I hope that you enjoy these traditional South African recipes
2 onions, chopped
2 lbs. ground beef
1 slice bread
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 C golden raisins
3 tbsp. chutney
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. turmeric
juice and grated rind of 1/2 lemon
6 almonds, quartered
1 egg
4 bay leaves
Preheat the oven to 350. Sauté the meat with onions until brown. Pour off grease.
Soak the break in half of the milk then mash with a fork. Combine all the remaining ingredients except the egg, remaining milk and bay leaves. Spread the mixture in a greased casserole and tuck in the bay leaves here and there.
Bake for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaves. Then beat the egg with remaining half cup of milk and pour over.
Return to oven for another half an hour. Serve with steamed rice and chutney.
Preheat oven to 180c or 350F
Ingredients
1kg or 2.2 lbs. ground beef
2 medium sized onions, peeled and thinly sliced
30ml or 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
15ml or 1 tablespoon medium strength curry powder
5ml or 1tsp turmeric
30ml or 2 tablespoons white vinegar or lemon juice
15ml or 1 tablespoon sugar
15ml or 1 tsp salt
2ml or 1/2 tsp black pepper
2 slices white bread
250ml or 1 cup milk
2 large eggs
75 grams 2 1/2 ounces raisins
45ml or 3 tablespoons fruit chutney
grated rind of one lemon (optional)
2 bay leaves
6-12 almonds blanched and quartered
6 lemon leaves
Parboil the onions in a little water until opaque and drain reserving the water, chop and fry in the oil until just golden colored. Add the curry power and turmeric. Fry for 2 minutes stirring all the time then add the vinegar or lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
In the meanwhile, soak the bread in milk, then squeeze dry, strain the milk and set aside. Crumble the minced raw meat into a pan with the onion water and a little boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes.
Lightly mix the meat, bread, onion mixture with 1 egg, raisins, chutney and lemon rind if used. Pack into a buttered casserole and add the bay leaves cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove from the oven and stick the almonds and lemon leaves (turned into cones shapes) into the meat. Whip the remaining egg with the milk add about 1/2 cup more milk to make 250ml or a full cup and carefully pour over the meat over the back of a spoon. Return to the oven turning the heat down to 300F or 180C and bake uncovered for 30minutes.
It is tasty when accompanied with white fluffy rice and fresh veggies or a crisp green salad.
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Three parts pork minced with 2 parts bacon fat are seasoned with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and coriander. After being moistened with vinegar, the ingredients are well mixed and allowed to stand for two hours before being filled into hog casings. You can cut the bacon fat down to one part, then the proportions are generally 3 pounds pork to 1 pound bacon fat.
Grind all of this together and then add the seasonings and vinegar. Proportions of the seasonings are hit and miss-- add a bit (like 2 tbs each) and then fry up a patty to see how it tastes. Then add more accordingly.
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Koeksisters are easier on the mind and hands than vetkoeks (pronounced 'fet-cooks'). Fetkoeks are deep fried bread dough then filled with meat or fruit. Very filling and like all breads takes time to nurture the rising process. Koek sisters are similar but more like a cake.
Ingredients:
9 oz of brown sugar,
1/4 pint water, cinnamon,
1 oz butter,
1 egg,
6 oz self raising flour,
oil for frying.
Dissolve the sugar in the water. Add sprinkle of cinnamon with a piece of lemon. bring to the boil then allow to cool, discarding the lemon. Add the butter, beat in the egg and get it creamy.
Sift the flour and mix with the butter/sugar mix until smooth. Roll into a 9' square and cut into 18 pieces ( 3'x11/2'). Cut two slits in each piece but leave them joined at the top, so it looks like a thing with three legs.
Plait the legs and pinch at the ends to seal. Heat oil to 350 F and fry for 4-5 minutes, dip in syrup and serve hot.
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The secret of the crisp syrupy outside of koeksisters is that they are taken straight from hot oil and dipped into ice-cold syrup. This seals the syrup outside and leaves the inside dryish in contrast.
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To make the syrup, mix a litre of sugar, 5 ml cream of tartar, 2.5 ml tartaric acid and 5 ml vanilla essence or grated orange rind or cinnamon, or 1.5 ml ginger with 500 ml of water. Bring mixture to the boil and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes or until syrupy. Set syrup aside to cool.
It is advisable to make the syrup first and leave it overnight in the fridge. To make the batter, sift 500 ml flour, 10 ml baking powder and 5 ml salt into a mixing bowl. Cut or rub 70 ml of margarine or butter into the dry ingredients.
Beat an egg thoroughly and add it to 80 ml of milk. Add the egg and milk to the flour mixture, handling as little as possible. Put the dough in the fridge for at least one hour.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 4 mm. Cut into strips about 8 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. Cut each strip into three lengthwise, leaving one side uncut.
Now plait the three pieces and press ends together firmly. Pre-heat a deep pan and remove syrup from the fridge. The hot fried koeksisters must be dropped into the cold syrup.
The syrup will warm up about halfway through, so divide it into two bowls. Deep-fry koeksisters until golden brown, drain for a few seconds on absorbent paper and dip into cold syrup.
MILK TART (strictly speaking - MELKTERT) Pastry :
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 egg (take 1 egg, beat it up a bit and then use half of this)
2 oz butter
1/4 cup sugar salt
Beat together butter & sugar. Add egg, and then add in dry ingredients. You should get a crumbly mix.
Press this into a pie dish and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
1 1/2 eggs (you use the other half of the egg that contributed to the pastry)
1 1/4 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 tablespoons corn flour
2 1/4 cups milk (this is 1 pint)
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
1 tsp butter
Boil the milk. In another bowl/pot (depending on whether you are using a microwave or cooker), beat the egg and sugar. Add the flour & corn flour to the egg/sugar mixture and beat this together.
Add the milk and cook till it thickens. (This works well in a microwave oven). Remove from heat and add vanilla & butter.
Beat well, and pour into the baked shell. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg, and cool. (This is best refrigerated.)
Recipe for Monkey Gland Steak, a very popular South African dish. Don't worry, it's only a name, there are no monkey glands in the ingredients. But it is fun to use on your guests.
Ingredients: (makes 8 servings)
1/2 cup water Cube steaks (1 per serving)
oil for frying
1 large onion diced
2 large tomatoes diced (canned tomatoes work just as well)
1 cup of ketchup
1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3/4 -1 cup of chutney
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 Tblsp. vinegar
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
In a heavy skillet, heat oil. Sauté onions and garlic until soft. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and simmer for a few minutes.
Fry the steaks separately. When done frying, spoon the sauce over the steaks. Serve with rice.
Unlike a previous pasty recipe, this does not have gravy.
1 lb. finely-chopped round steak
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, cleaned, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled, sliced
1/3 cup chopped rutabaga
salt and pepper to taste (enough pepper to 'show' in the mixture)
butter
2 recipes of pie crust (not sweet).
Mix meat and vegetables together in a large bowl. Prepare crust, and roll into pie-sized circle. Place a sop (approximately 1 cup) of meat/vegetable mix on one side of crust.
Place 1 large (heaping?) tsp. butter on top of mix. Fold over crust, trim, and crimp or roll. This will look like a crescent-shaped meat pie now.
Vent top and bake at 375 F until crust is golden. Serve with ketchup.
This is a traditional dish, which can be made using just about anything to hand. Great for a cookout on a summers day. Requires a lot of time, and lots of wine to drink while you're waiting. The recipe really depends on what you have and therefore is almost never the same twice. Utensil: A large iron pot, preferably with three legs. It must have a tightly fitting lid.
A little cooking oil
Any kind of beef, lamb/mutton, chicken, even fish. Cheaper cuts of meat are better as this dish is cooked for hours.
Thickly slice any kind of vegetables that are available. Pumpkin, squash, zucchini are good, potatoes, yams, tomatoes, beans etc.
Wine (red or white) for cooking (and drinking).
Whatever spices and herbs are around. Salt & pepper, coriander is good, turmeric, curry if you like etc.
Make a little fire. It must be very low. Brown chunks of meat or chicken in the pot.
Then pack the meat at the bottom of the pot. In layers pack the other sliced vegetables, potatoes should be at the top, seasoning each layer as you pack it in. Pour wine over the layers.
Cook this over the very low fire for 4 to 6 hours without stirring, sipping wine with your friends while you solve the world's problems and while they tell you what you've left out of the pot. Now and then add a bit of wine knowingly to the pot, just to make your friends think you know what you're doing.
Serve over rice and you'll realize that life is good when you do things this slowly.
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Rusks are hard, very dry biscuits, originally prepared in South Africa by the Dutch for traveling long distances in a hot climate. Rusks were a bread that wouldn't spoil. Now, all over South Africa, rusks are eaten as snacks, dipped in coffee, tea, or milk. In the cities, many different varieties of commercially baked rusks are available. There are raisin, chocolate chip, almond, peanut, and oat-bran rusks.
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups whole wheat bread flour (coarsely ground if possible)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp pure almond extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the dry ingredients. Combine all the wet ingredients, pour them into the dry ingredients, and stir until you have a soft dough, similar to biscuit dough.
Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and roll or pat it to about a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut the dough into rectangles about 2 by 4 inches. Bake the rusks about 2 inches apart on buttered baking sheet for about 25 minutes until the tops are crisping and browning a little.
Now, eat a few "soft" rusks warm from the oven. Loosely pile the rusks on a baking sheet and keep them in a 200 degree oven all day or all night (about 12 hours) to dry. The finished rusks should be very dry and hard.
Cool and store in an airtight container. Rusks will keep for weeks.
VARIATIONS
Oatmeal-Raisin Rusks: Reduce the white flour to 1 1/2 cups and add 2 cups rolled oats and 1/2 cup currants or chopped raisins.
Almond Rusks: Add 1 cup chopped almonds and omit the cinnamon.
Peanut Rusks: Add 1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts.
Anise Rusks: Omit the cinnamon and almond extract and add 2 tsp pure anise extract or 1 Tbsp anisette.
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200 g (400 ml) maize meal
1 litre boiling water
8 ml of salt
125 - 250 g bacon
oil
1 x 285 g tin creamed mushrooms (or fresh sautéed mushrooms)
100 g (250 ml) grated cheddar cheese
50 ml cream or evaporated milk (optional but very good)
2 onions, cut and sautéed in butter or margarine
1 X 410 g tin tomatoes, chopped
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Prepare the maize porridge using the maize meal, boiling water and salt. In the meantime fry the bacon until crisp and crumble it.
Add oil to the bacon fat to make 50 ml and pour into a casserole of about 22 cm in diameter. Layer the maize porridge and remaining ingredients alternately in the casserole. Pour over the cream and bake for 45 - 60 minutes.
(The maize meal can be made in the microwave as follows: Stir the maize meal and salt with a fork into the boiling water and microwave for 10 minutes at 100% power. Stir frequently to prevent the forming of lumps.
500 ml water
3 ml salt
700 ml maize meal
Bring the water to the boil. Slowly add the maize meal until it forms a pyramid in the middle of the saucepan . Put on the lid and allow to simmer until a "skin" has formed around the maize meal.
Stir with a fork till fine and crumbly. Put the lid back on and simmer over LOW heat until done. Stir once or twice to break the lumps.
(It takes about 30 - 40 minutes)
Sauté 3 chopped onions and 2 - 3 chopped fresh tomatoes till tender and add the following:
1 c (250 ml) tomato sauce (I think you call it ketchup in the USA)
80 ml vinegar (one third of a cup)
80 ml Worcester sauce
30 ml sugar
125 ml (half a cup) water
2,5 ml (half a teaspoon) dry mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
Cook for about 2 minutes and thicken with corn flour mixed to a soft paste with cold water.
Make sandwiches with two slices of bread (store supplied bread is ok) with tomato and onion slices. Season with salt, pepper or seasoning of your taste, and sprinkle some cheese over. Fasten a piece of string around the sandwich like you will do with a parcel (this is to keep the slices of onion and tomato from falling out) and toast this till lightly browned over the coals. Remove the string before serving.
1 leg of lamb or mutton (beef may also be used)
1 kilogram pork
2 big onions
15 ml mild curry powder
7,5 ml turmeric powder
30 ml sugar (brown of white)
15 ml cornstarch
500 ml vinegar (if it is to strong, it may be diluted with water)
125 ml stewed dry apricots of apricot chutney
a few crushed lemon leaves
salt and pepper
Cut the meat in 2" cubes. Cut onion in slices and put in a pot with a little water. Cook for about 5 minutes till glassy but still crisp.
Drain the rest of the water, add 30 ml of oil or fat and sauté onions till lightly brown. Add 250 ml water and simmer till soft. Mix the curry, turmeric, cornstarch, sugar, 5 ml of salt and vinegar and add to onions.
Mix in the apricots or chutney. Cook for about 3 minutes and remove from heat. Add the leaves and allow to cool completely.
Pour the sauce over the cubes of meat and marinade for about 24 - 48 hours, stirring it around once or twice. Season meat with about 10 ml of salt for each 500 g of meat. Skewer the cubes of meat onto thin sticks (cut specially for this purpose. I think you will find it in you local supermarket).
Use about 6 cubes for each skewer, and alternate the mutton and pork. Roast over open coals or in oven. Heat the sauce, cook for about 2 minutes and serve with sosaties.
Chutney can be served with this as well. (Mutton chops can also be marinated in this sauce and roasted or grilled. Please be careful as not to do this over to hot coals as it burns easily. Also very nice if served with cooked rice)
Makes about 10 - 12 portions
250 ml uncooked, parboiled rice
1 litre boiling water
30 ml yellow sugar
1 piece of cinnamon
5 ml salt
30 ml ground turmeric
125 ml seedless raisins
15 ml butter or margarine
Wash rice. Add all the ingredients to the boiling water, except the raisins, butter and sugar. Add rice slowly to boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes over high heat.
Drain the water and steam cook the rice with the raisins and cinnamon stick for 1 hour over boiling water. Remove the stick of cinnamon and mix in the butter and the sugar.
Serve warm with bobotie.
4 c cooked mashed pumpkin
2 eggs
1 c flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
30 ml (2 tablespoons) heaped of sugar
Combine all ingredients, making a soft batter and fry spoonfuls in shallow oil till both sides are lightly browned. Drain on paper and serve warm with cinnamon sugar or caramel sauce.
Take one ounce of ground cinnamon and mix with 6 ounces of sugar. Sprinkle over pancakes as much as desires and keep rest in bottle for later use. (Tastes fine over sweet potato too)
250 ml sugar
500 ml water
500 ml milk
30 ml margarine
20 ml corn starched mixed to a paste with water
Cook together and add one teaspoon caramel essence before serving over pumpkin fritters.
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(This is fine for mutton and can also be used cooked as a sauce for hamburger patties and for making a leg of lamb in a casserole in the oven)
2 huge onions, chopped
1 huge clove of garlic, crushed
15 ml oil
250 ml beef broth
125 ml wine vinegar (white for mutton, red for steak)
250 ml tomato ketchup
15 ml Worcester sauce
5 ml salt
2 ml Tabasco sauce
15 ml brown sugar
1 ml ground cloves
1 ml ground ginger
30 ml fruit chutney
30 ml dark brown sherry (optional)
125 ml milk
Mix all ingredients and use as marinade. If used for sauce over patties, please cook till onions are done, or else you can sauté the onions and garlic before putting it into the marinade, and only heat up the sauce before serving it with the burgers. If used for marinade, put meat overnight in it and remove just before barbequing it over hot coals.
Baste frequently while roasting it over coals. If used to make a leg of lamb in the oven, put the leg of lamb in it and bake in sauce till tender and done. Serve this with maize bread and a green salad.
120 g cake flour
10 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
15 g butter
1 egg
125 ml milk
butter and cinnamon sugar to serve with
Sift the dry ingredients together and mix in the butter with fingers till it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix egg and milk and add to above. Boil water (must be about 3 cm deep) with a pinch of salt in a casserole with a lid.
Use a teaspoon dipped in boiling water to put spoonfuls of the dough into the boiling water. Cover with tight fitting lid and cook slowly for 10 minutes (please don't peek, as this will cause the dumplings to "fall down" and become rubbery) Remove from heat, pour into a serving bowl and put dots of butter on top.
Sprinkle a lot of cinnamon sugar over and serve with vanilla custard.
30 g butter or margarine
160 g sugar
2 eggs, separated
15 g flour
1 ml salt
1 ml vanilla essence
250 ml milk
250 ml buttermilk (cultured is ok)
Cream butter and sugar. Beat egg yolks one by one into creamed sugar and butter. Add the flour, salt and milk alternately to the batter, mixing well after every addition. Add vanilla essence.
Fold in stiffly beaten whites and bake one hour in deep bowl at 180 degrees C. Serve with strawberry sauce of your choice.
2 cups orange lentils
1 tsp. salt
1/4 C vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1" piece fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. ground coriander seed
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin seeds, crushed
1 tsp. cardamom seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 C canned tomatoes, or fresh ones, peeled.
Dissolve salt in enough boiling water to cover lentils. Add lentils and cook until tender. Drain and mash with potato masher.
Heat oil in a skillet and fry onions and garlic until onions are golden. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for a few minutes. Stir in lentils and heat until thick.
Serve hot.
