Chef Nokuthula Majoz says: ‘Pronounced “Ba-bo-tea”, this pie represents what I love most – British craftsmanship and SouthAfrican heritage. Both fruity and savoury, it is usually served with turmeric rice and a salad.’
Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to 3 days; either reheat in a medium oven, wrapped in foil, or serve at room temperature.
Start with the pastry. Add both of the flours, the turmeric and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to combine. Beat 2 eggs and strain through a sieve, then add to the flour mixture and turn the mixer on for about 30 seconds to start to combine.
Put the lard or vegetable fat in a pan with 150ml water, with the rosemary sprig if using; bring slowly to the boil. Remove from the heat and discard the rosemary. Start the mixer and slowly pour the hot liquid into the flour and egg mix, scraping the bowl and paddle halfway to stop any lumps forming. Continue to mix until the dough starts to come together. Tip out onto a sheet of baking paper, cover with a second sheet and flatten to a rough disc. Set aside at room temperature until cool.
For the filling, place a large saucepan on a medium heat and add the oil. Add the onion and fry for around 6 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, and turmeric and cook for a few minutes on a low heat.
Add the tomato purée and chutney and cook for a few more minutes, before adding the beef mince, stirring to break it up. Cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Add the sultanas, almonds and Worcestershire sauce and season well; let any excess liquid evaporate. Set aside to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6, with a baking tray in to get hot. Set aside a third of the pastry for the lid, and then roll out the remaining pastry until it’s large enough to line a 20cm diameter loose-based sponge tin. Lightly oil the tin and line with the pastry, leaving the excess pastry overhanging. Chill for 5 minutes.
Fill the pie with the cooled meat mixture and level out. Beat together the eggs and milk and slowly pour this over the top of the meat filling. Roll out the remaining pastry until it’s large enough to create a lid. Brush the inner top of the lid with beaten egg glaze, before placing it on top of the pie. Cut off any excess pastry and crimp the edges all the way round to seal. Any pastry offcuts can be rolled and used to decorate, in whatever style you wish. Make a steam hole in the centre with a knife and brush the lid with the remaining egg glaze. Bake on the hot tray for 40-50 minutes or until golden and crisp. Leave to cool inside the tin for 30-40 minutes. Unmould and serve warm, or at room temperature.
More pie recipes to try
Beef and ale pie with pickled walnuts 'Skinny' fish, pea and parsley pies with sesame pastry
Bobotie is a baked mincemeat dish and one of the more recognizable foods to come out of South Africa. It's commonly believed that Bobotie was first derived from the Javanese dish Botok, as Dutch colonists brought the dish to South Africa from their settlements in Indonesia (née Dutch East Indies) in the 17th century.
Bobotie. Another dish thought to have been brought to South Africa by Asian settlers, bobotie is now the national dish of the country and cooked in many homes and restaurants. Minced meat is simmered with spices, usually curry powder, herbs and dried fruit, then topped with a mixture of egg and milk and baked until set ...
It is almost always served with "yellow rice" however; long-grain cooked with turmeric and often raisins, though it would also be nice, I think, with mashed sweet potato or roasted squash, and a glass of robust red like a local cabernet sauvignon, whose smoky fruit pairs well with the sweet gaminess of the lamb.
In South Africa, bobotie was adopted and adapted by the Cape Malay community – many of whom were slaves and labourers with roots in modern-day Indonesia – with the addition of curry powder, as well as the spices typically being transported by the Dutch East India Company from Indonesia to the Netherlands.
Biltong is a South African classic. It is air-cured meat immersed in vinegar and spices. Various types of meat are used to make biltong but it is most commonly made from beef because of its widespread availability and lower costs.
The KEY to a delicious and flaky meat pie is to keep all your ingredients COLD! This prevents the butter from melting into the flour prematurely and producing a HARD pastry.
The most usual type of pie with meat in it in the US is the pot pie, which is baked in a dish, with a topcrust and sometimes but not always a lower crust. The filling often has vegetables as well as meat, and usually a lot of gravy—this is not usually a pie you eat by the slice.
Many spices that we're familiar with are also African spices. Some of the best vanilla in the world comes from Madagascar. Cumin, garlic, ginger, peppercorns, cinnamon, paprika and chiles are all common African spices.
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