The best of SA huiskos: Lekker Malay recipes to try
Hello everyone!
I want to end Heritage Month on a sweet note and have taken inspiration from our Cape food culture.
Cape Malay dishes has made a strong contribution to the vast South African culture and heritage, and dishes like our loved koesiester, milk tart, stewed fruit and even boeber has made an appearance in almost every South Africans’ heart and home.
When it comes to food, dishes such as frikkadel, denningvleis, bobotie and lekker bredies always give a sense of homecoming.
Cape Malay cuisine is known for combining both sweet and savoury flavours, and warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom and ginger is a must.
To add sweetness, some dishes include dried fruit (like apricots) making this cuisine unique and loved by many.
My favourite Cape Malay dish has to be Bobotie, and did you know according to google the national dish of Cape Town is actually Bobotie?
This dish is extremely popular and is made with minced meat that is simmered in curry-based spices, herbs and dried fruit.
It is then topped with a mixture of egg and milk and baked to perfection.
In our home, it’s always served with sweet yellow rice and if I have raisins or sultanas I also add those in my rice.
To balance out the flavours, I have a lekker soetsuur uiweslaai on the side, it just finishes off the meal sooo lekker!
Whenever I am looking for traditional Cape Malay savoury recipes or inspo, I visit Salwaa Smith’s Facebook or Instagram pages.
‘Salwaa’s Cape Malay Cooking and Other Delights’ has recipes straight from her kitchen, keeping her Cape Malay heritage alive and well.
Salwaa’s recipes I’m using this week are quick, easy and uncomplicated. It uses basic ingredients you have at home and it’s economical too, keeping you well within your budget.
Happy cooking, mense
For more recipes or baking and cooking inspiration, visit my website www.sprinklesandspice.co.za or visit my social media platforms on Instagram @sprinklesandspicect or Facebook Sprinkles and Spice by Farzana Kumandan.
Love, your Cooksister.
Salwaa’s Kool Frikkadel (oumense onder die komberse)
Ingredients
500g mutton / beef pieces
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions, chopped
Salt to taste
7 cloves
1 – 2 green chilies, deseeded and chopped
1 piece stick cinnamon
1 large cabbage
Nutmeg
Butter
Water as needed
Frikkadel ingredients
500g fat free minced meat
1 onion
1 small green pepper
1 tomato
1/2 bunch dhania (optional)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 slice of slightly stale bread soaked in water
1 egg
Salt & pepper to taste
Method For the Frikkadel
Soak bread in water and squeeze excess water out.
Chop onion, pepper, tomato, dhania finely.
Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly using your hands.
Heat the oil in a large deep pot.
Braise the onions until very brown, add the meat and spices and cook until the meat is brown and tender, 20 – 30 minutes depending on your meat, adding water (not excessive) to prevent it from burning.
In the meantime, separate the outer cabbage leaves, cutting the veins from each leaf but do not cut through the leaf.
Chop the inside (the hard part) of the cabbage finely, put the chopped cabbage in a colander.
Pour boiling water over the cabbage and leave to drain.
When the meat is nicely browned add the chopped cabbage in the pot, stir and cook for another 10 minutes until the cabbage is browned as well, stirring often to prevent burning.
Wash the cabbage leaves you left whole and steam on top of the meat, and remove when softened and set aside.
Prep your frikkadel. Place a small ball (40ml) of frikkadel mixture in the centre of each cabbage leaf and fold into parcels.
Place the frikkadel parcels on top of the mutton mixture, add 1 cup of water.
Sprinkle with grated nutmeg, dot with small pieces of butter and cook, covered for about 30 minutes on medium.
Serve with white rice and atchar.
Salwaa’s Bobotie
Ingredients
2 slices white bread (preferably a couple of days old)
30 ml cooking oil
1 large, chopped onion
2 ml ground cloves
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
salt to taste (approx. 5ml)
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
500g minced meat (lamb or beef)
1 egg
20 ml lemon juice
30 ml sugar
6 bay leaves
For the topping
2 large eggs
300ml milk
Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
Pour cold water to cover over the bread and set aside to soak.
Fry onions in oil until they are soft and starting to colour, 10 minutes.
Add cloves, garlic, salt, curry powder, 2 of the bay leaves and turmeric and simmer for 5 minutes adding 30 ml water if necessary.
In a separate bowl combine the minced meat with the onion mixture, eggs, lemon juice and sugar.
Squeeze the water from the bread and mix until well blended.
Tip into an oval ovenproof dish (23 x 33 cm and about 5-6 cm deep).
Press the mixture down well and smooth the top. You can make this and chill 1 day ahead.
For the topping, beat the milk and eggs, then pour over the meat.
Top with the remaining bay leaves and bake for 35-40 mins until the topping is set and starting to turn golden.
Serve with almond yellow rice and mango chutney,
Variations
- Add a couple of tablespoons of mango chutney or apricot preserves to the meat if you like. A grated apple is also sometimes added.
- Stir a handful of toasted, slivered almonds into the meat mixture before cooking, or garnish the finished dish with toasted almonds.
- One or two beaten eggs can also be stirred into the meat mixture if you like.
- Substitute lemon leaves for the bay leaves if you can find them.
Salwaa’s Milk tart
Ingredients for the shortbread base for milk tart
1 egg
125g butter/margarine
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 level teaspoon baking powder
Method
Mix the egg, sugar, softened butter and oil together until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla essence, mix. Add the flour and baking powder and mix well.
Line a 20cm by 20cm oven proof dish with approximately half of the pastry.
The pastry should be as thin as possible with no holes.
Leftover pastry can be freezed or you can use it to make shortcrust biscuits.
It is very important that the base contains no holes as it will cause the milk tart to bake upside down.
For the Milk Tart Filling
Ingredients
1 litre milk
12 eggs
250ml sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom and cinnamon
Method
Boil milk in a saucepan. Allow to cool completely.
Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the cooled milk and mix well.
Add the cardamom and cinnamon.
Gently pour the filling over the base.
Bake at 180 C in a preheated oven until the filling has set, approximately 40 - 50 minutes. Remove from oven, allow the milk tart to cool down then slice into squares.
Salwaa’s Bunny Chow
Ingredients
1-2 tins of white kidney beans
500 gram beef pieces with bone
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 green chillies, deseeded and chopped
Sprig of curry leaves
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 piece ginger, grated (10cm)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
3 cardamom pips
1 stick cinnamon
Bread loafs
Method
Drain beans in a colander and rinse under running water and put aside.
Pour the oil into a heavy based pot, add the chopped onions and braise until the onions are transparent about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Add the trimmed and washed meat.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Add water as necessary as you go along.
Add all the spices, chillies, curry leaves and tomato and cook until the meat is done, about 45 minutes depending on the type of meat you are using.
Add potatoes optional and. Cook until soft.
Add the beans, cook over medium to low heat, until the beans, meat and sauce are combined for about another 10 - 15 minutes. Add water to the consistency you like.
Hollow out a 1/4 or 1/2 bread by keeping the bottom part intact and fill the bread. Serve with a carrot salad and enjoy.
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