Bobotie

[kirra]

Bobotie
South African National Dish

Ingredients:

minced lamb or beef, or a mixture of the two
butter, vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 slices bread, crumbled
1/4 cup milk
finely grated rind and juice of 1/2 small lemon
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt, milled black pepper
3 ounces dried apricots, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup sultanas (golden raisins)
1 1/2 ounces slivered almonds, roasted in a dry frying pan
6 lemon, orange, or bay leaves

Topping:

1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Set the oven at 325°F. Butter a large casserole. Heat butter and oil in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until translucent. Stir in the curry powder and turmeric, and cook briefly until fragrant. Remove the pot from the heat.

Mix in the minced meat. Mix together the crumbs, milk, lemon rind and juice, egg, salt, pepper, apricots, apple, sultanas (golden raisins) and almonds and mix in. Pile into the casserole and level the top. Roll up the leaves and bury them at regular intervals. Seal with foil and bake for 1 1/4 hours. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C (400°F). Mix together the topping milk, eggs and salt (you may require extra topping if you've used a very large casserole), pour over and bake uncovered for a further 15 minutes until cooked and lightly browned. Makes 8 servings