South African Babotie, Yellow Rice and Tomato Salad

South African Babotie

I am a little behind with my 'New recipe every week' experiments but what with being on holiday and relatives visiting, I haven't had a chance to get in the kitchen as much as usual! I will catch up in the next few weeks and in the meantime...here is my latest venture... South African Babotie (pronounced Ba Boor Tea) with yellow rice and tomato salad. This was delicious and very popular with my parents! A different use for mince that we will definitely be repeating.

Speed - **

Taste - ****

Repeat - YES!

Babotie

adapted from bbcgoodfood.com

Serves 3

1 onion, finely chopped

10g butter

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

500g lean mince

2 tsp madras curry powder (to taste)

1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs

1 clove

1 tblsp mango chutney

2 tblsp raisins

2 bay leaves

Topping

150ml milk

1 large egg

1. Heat pan and add butter. When melted, add onions and fry for 7-10 minutes until soft and starting to colour

2. Add garlic and beef and stir. Crush the beef to smaller pieces and cook until it changes colour

3. Add curry powder, herbs, spices, chutney, raisins and 2 bay leaves. Season.

4. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Make the topping by beating the egg with the milk and season.

6. Tip meat mixture into an oven proof dish about 5-6cm deep and press down until smooth.

7. Pour the topping over the meat (it will look very odd at this point...do not worry!)

8. Bake at 180C for 30-35 minutes until the topping is set and golden

9. Serve with rice and salad

Yellow Rice

adapted from bbcgoodfood.com

serves 3

175g basmati rice

25g butter

1/2 tbsp caster sugar

1/3 cinnamon stick

3 cardamom pods, shelled and crushed

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

3 tbsp raisins

1. Put all ingredients in a large pan with 275ml boiling water. Bring to the boil, stir and leave to simmer

2. Cook for 15-20 minutes until rice is tender and fluffy, add more fluid if necessary

Tomato and Onion Salad

adapted from bbcgoodfood.com

serves 4

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cucumber, sliced

1-2cm of chilli finely chopped (to taste)

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp caster sugar

1. Pour boiling water over onions and leave for 10 minutes

2. Arrange tomatoes and cucumber on a plate then scatter over the drained onions

3. Mix chilli, garlic with vinegar and sugar. Drizzle over salad just before serving

NB - my Mum is really NOT a fan of raw onions but she loved the onions in this salad so the boiling water trick is a good one to remember!

Love Rebecca