Bobotie
Spiced, slightly sweet baked minced meat topped with a golden egg custard.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Tree Nut. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
How this varies: Some households use a beef/lamb mix rather than one meat, and jam-vs-chutney sweetness levels vary by family — Durban versions often lean sweeter with more apricot jam, while Cape versions favor chutney and a sharper vinegar note.
Ingredients
- 500g ground beef or lamb (or a mix)
- 2 slices stale/dried white bread, torn into pieces
- 1 cup milk (for soaking bread and topping)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp butter or oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2-3 tbsp curry powder (mild)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup flaked almonds
- 2 tbsp apricot jam or mango chutney
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3-4 bay or lemon leaves
- 2 eggs (for custard topping)
Steps
- Tear stale bread into pieces and soak in the milk for 10 minutes; squeeze out the bread, reserving the milk for the custard.
- Preheat oven to 160-180C (325-350F).
- Saute onion in butter/oil until soft and golden; add garlic, ginger, curry powder, and turmeric, cook 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add ground meat, brown well, breaking it up.
- Stir in the squeezed bread, raisins, jam or chutney, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper; simmer 5-10 minutes to let flavors meld.
- Transfer to a greased baking dish, press flat, tuck bay or lemon leaves into the surface, and scatter flaked almonds over the top.
- Whisk the eggs with the reserved milk (top up to 1 cup/250ml total) and a pinch of salt; pour evenly over the meat.
- Bake 35-40 minutes until the custard topping is set, golden, and just firm.
- Rest 5 minutes, then serve with yellow (turmeric) rice, chutney, and sambals.