Beautiful bobotie

Recently I went to Shaka Zulu for a tasting evening.  I can't say I've ever had typical South African food, so was not really sure what to expect.

To be honest, I thought the starters were unimpressive.  Smoked salmon with a garnish, pickled fish and biltong - South African jerky which was tasty, but more of a bar snack than an actual dish.  The main courses were much more interesting.  We were initially presented with a selection of meats, including lamb, ostrich and springbok. Served with this was a curried cabbage side dish which was delicious.  The real winner for me though was the bobotie.  A traditional meat pie, it is a wonderful marriage of eggs and spiced mince beef cooked in a small casserole dish.  Often served in bread or with rice, this is warm comfort food at it's best!

So I've scoured the internet to find a recipe for this lovely dish.  As with many typical dishes, there are 100's of variants - some with raisins, some with chutney, some with tomato paste and some without any of these.  I wanted to replicate the dish as closely as possible, so I combined the ideas and came up with the recipe below.

Bobotie - South African spiced mince meat pie

Serves 4

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of old bread,

- vegetable oil

- 1 onion, chopped

- ½ teaspoon mixed spice

- 2 cloves garlic

- 2 teaspoons curry powder

- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

- 500 g minced lean beef or Quorn veggie mince

- 2 eggs

- salt and black pepper

- 2 tablespoons water

- juice from one lime

- pinch of sugar

Topping:

- 1 egg

- 150 ml milk

- salt for seasoning

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Put bread in a bowl, cover with warm water and leave to soak.
3. In a frying pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the onion for approx 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and fry for another minute
4. Add the mixed spice, curry, turmeric and mince.  Fry until lightly browned.  Take off the heat.
5. Drain the bread of excess water, crumble and mix evenly into the mince.  Add the water, lime juice, sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Beat the eggs and add to the mince.
7. Pour into an ovenproof dish and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until the top is light brown.
8. For the topping, beat the egg and add the milk and salt. Pour over the mince and put back into the oven.  Turn the oven up to 200C.
9. Bake in the oven until the top has browned, approximately 15 mins.
10. Serve hot with rice or bread and vegetables.