• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
PantsDownApronsOn
  • About
  • Shop
  • Recipes
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Shop
  • Recipes
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Shop
    • Recipes
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Meat

    Traditional Cape Malay Bobotie (Video)

    Published: Apr 5, 2022 · Modified: Aug 29, 2022 by Charlé Visser · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment · 1792 words. · About 9 minutes to read this article.

    jump to recipe Jump to Video

    Bobotie, pronounced "Ba-Bo-Tea" is the most famous traditional South African meat dish you'll ever find. It consists of a slightly fruity and savoury curried minced meat baked with egg custard and bay leaf.

    It's a marriage of cuisines born in Cape Town. The baked minced meat comes from Europe, similar to mousaka, and the spices from historically Malay and Indian influence. Hence, the cuisine, Cape Malay.

    The perfect Bobotie is well-balanced. It should be well seasoned and not too sweet, overly spicy or oily. It should have a light, fluffy texture and the custard baked golden brown.

    For the best Bobotie I advise making everything from scratch. The apricot chutney, curry powder and garlic ginger paste forming the base to a delicious result.

    Close up of bobotie in a white ceramic dish.
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Video
    • Tips for success
    • Variations
    • Serving suggestions
    • Storage and reheating instructions
    • Frequently asked questions
    • Useful equipment
    • Related recipes
    • Recipe

    Ingredients

    Ingredients for making bobotie on a marble background.
    • Meat - Beef Mince. Sometimes Mutton or a mix of mutton and beef are used. Make sure to get good quality mince with 20% fat maximum if buying the mince. When grinding your own meat, the best cuts to use are chuck, rump and brisket.
    • Fat - We use butter to fry the onions, but you can also use neutral oil or the fat that renders from cooking the mince.
    • Aromatics - Onion as well as garlic and ginger paste makes up the base of the dish.
    • Worcestershire sauce - Naturally fermented and a huge flavour enhancer. If you don't have it, use a touch of soy sauce and a bit of vinegar.
    • Tomato paste - Another essential ingredient for making the best Bobotie possible. It adds richness and depth of flavour to the base, which is super important.
    • Chutney - Apricot chutney is a must. Make your own chilli apricot chutney, or use a good store bought version.
    • Spices - Curry powder, extra ginger and turmeric plus a few bay leaves to place on top before baking.
    • Raisins - I used a mix of raisins and sultanas, but you could use any or simply omit it if you don't like raisins.
    • Eggs mix - Consists of eggs and milk. If you want it richer, replace with cream or half-half (half milk, half cream).

    Instructions

    Picture steps for making bobotie.
    1. Prep your ginger and garlic paste first if using homemade, soak the raisins if using, and chop the onions finely.
    2. Heat a pan on high and fry your mince until well browned. Do this in batches, so the mince does not boil in its own juices. Once browned, you drain the mince through a sieve to remove or reserve the rendered fat.
    3. Next, you fry the onions along with the garlic and ginger paste in butter or the rendered fat from the meat.
    4. Cook it slowly and make sure not to caramelise the onions. It's ok if it browns a bit but adjust the balance accordingly as caramelised onions are sweeter.
    Picture steps for making bobotie.
    1. Once the onions are soft, add the spices apart from the ginger powder along with the raisins. Cook it for a few seconds on low heat just to combine.
    2. Add the tomato paste and chutney, then cook for a further minute until the tomato paste has lost its rawness.
    3. Add the ginger powder and minced meat and give it a good mix.
    4. Cook on low heat for a few more minutes.
    Picture steps for making bobotie.
    1. Turn your oven to 180 °C or 356 °F.
    2. Place the bobotie mix into a ceramic baking dish. Do not press it down too firmly, but make sure the mix is evenly spread.
    3. Whisk together the egg and milk, then pour it over the meat. Decorated with a few bay leaves as per tradition, if you wish. Brush the leaves with water to avoid burning.
    4. Place the dish into an oven tray filled with boiling water. This is optional, but will keep the edges from caramelising too much. Some like it that way, so do what you fancy.
    5. Bake for 35 minutes, then serve.

    Video

    Tips for success

    • Do not press down the mince too firmly. If you do this, the egg custard won't have a chance to penetrate the meat, and you'll end up with cooked mince and a custard sitting on top.
    • Always drain the oil from the meat and any excess oil before baking. Otherwise, you will end up with a pool of oil on the baked egg and/or an oily, heavy bobotie.
    • Cook it in a Bain Marie (tray of water) to avoid burnt edges or over caramelisation.

    Variations

    • Protein - Change the beef to lamb, goat, or even white meat like chicken or turkey.
    • Vegan - Use vegan minced meat. I've made vegan bobotie by simply substituting the real meat for vegan, and it tastes remarkably similar.
    • Add nuts - For crunch, add some roasted walnuts or pine nuts throughout the mix.
    • Fruit or no fruit - Not everyone likes fruit and meat mixed together. You can simply omit the raisins traditionally used. Or, if you like fruit very much, add some soaked dried apricots or plums for an extra fruity bobotie.
    • Chutney - Chutney adds balance, and it's also traditional. Leave it out if you want or use another chutney like onion or apple chutney.
    • Spice - Madras Curry powder and extra turmeric makes the base flavour. You can make it spicier by adding more dried chilli powder or freshly chopped chillies when frying the onions.

    Serving suggestions

    Bobotie is traditionally served with yellow rice, which is simply rice with turmeric and maybe a few aromatics like cardamom added while cooking. But that's not the only tasty side dish to serve it with.

    • Perfectly fluffy rice - Use this as a base to make yellow rice. Simply add some turmeric to the water.
    • Silky smooth mashed potatoes
    • South African creamed spinach
    • Baked baby potatoes
    • Greek salad

    Storage and reheating instructions

    Once cooked, make sure to chill it down completely before storing.

    Wherever you store it, it has to be in an airtight, sealable container or bag.

    • Fridge - Will keep well for up to a week. Good for when you bake a large tray and portion it.
    • Freezer - Will keep for many months. Also best when you first portion it into smaller pieces then freeze it.
    • Defrosting - Can be defrosted in the microwave on defrost setting. For best results, defrost in the fridge overnight.
    • Reheating - Gently reheat in the oven covered with foil or in the microwave on medium high covered with a lid.

    Frequently asked questions

    Does Bobotie contain bread?

    Some recipes include bread, but traditionally it's not used, which also makes it naturally gluten-free.

    Why is bobotie important to South Africa?

    It's a dish with strong cultural heritage and belongs to the Cape Malay cuisine of Cape Town. Cape Malay cuisine is characterised by the use of Indian spices and often the dishes have a sweet, mild spicy and savoury taste.

    What to do with leftover Bobotie?

    If not freezing it, you can form it into little balls and breadcrumb it. Then fry in hot oil until crispy and serve with a minted yoghurt sauce. If you have rice and bobotie left, mix the two and make a South African version of Italian Arancini.

    Useful equipment

    meat grinder and sausage stuffer

    Meat grinder

    BUY NOW
    Cast iron skillet.

    Cast Iron Skillet

    BUY NOW
    kitchen scales

    Electronic Kitchen Scales

    BUY NOW
    ceramic baking dishes

    Ceramic Baking Dishes

    BUY NOW

    Related recipes

    • Indian Red Curry Paste
    • Homemade South African Droëwors - Beef, Venison And Pork (Video)
    • Authentic Thai Red Curry Paste (Video)
    • Middle Eastern Lamb koftas
    • Biltong - South African Dried Meat
    • Thai Beef And Pork Jerky (Video)
    • Authentic Thai Jungle Curry | Kaeng Pa | แกงป่า (Video)
    • Homemade South African Droëwors - Beef, Venison And Pork (Video)
    • Middle Eastern Lamb Koftas With Yoghurt Dressing

    This site contains affiliate links. I may earn a tiny commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. By bookmarking these links you help support the upkeep of this site.

    If you found this post helpful or have learned something, comment, subscribe, and follow me on social platforms for more tasty recipes.

    Recipe

    Close up of bobotie in a white ceramic dish.
    5 from 2 votes
    Pin Recipe Print

    Bobotie

    Bobotie is a delicious Cape Malay baked spiced meat and egg custard dish from South Africa.
    Author Charlé Visser
    Prep Time 1 hour
    Cook Time 35 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
    Servings 6 portions
    Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
    Cuisine South African
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients

    Bobotie mix

    • 1 kilogram (2 ⅕ lb) beef mince - note 1
    • 500 grams (3 cups) onion - finely chopped
    • 30 grams (2 tablespoon) garlic ginger paste - note 2
    • 50 grams (3 ½ tablespoon) butter
    • 30 grams (2 tablespoon) sultanas - note 3
    • 30 grams (2 tablespoon) raisins - note 3
    • 150 grams (1 cups) apricot chutney - note 4
    • 50 grams (3 tablespoon) Worcestershire sauce
    • 50 grams (3 tablespoon) tomato paste
    • 30 grams (2 ½ tablespoon) brown sugar
    • 12 grams (2 tablespoon) ground ginger
    • 12 grams (2 tablespoon) curry powder - note 5
    • 2 grams (1 teaspoon) turmeric powder
    • 8 grams (1 ⅓ teaspoon) salt

    Egg custard

    • 300 grams (6 each) large eggs - about 6 eggs
    • 100 grams (1 cups) Milk - whole milk - note 6
    • 4 each (4 each) bay leaves - Optional for decoration

    Yellow rice

    • 200 grams (1 cups) basmati rice
    • 300 grams (1 ¼ cups) water
    • 4 grams (⅔ teaspoon) salt
    • 25 grams (2 tablespoon) butter
    • 1 gram (½ teaspoon) turmeric powder

    Instructions

    Cooking the spiced mince filling

    • Prep your ginger and garlic paste first if using homemade, soak the raisins if using, and chop the onions finely.
    • Heat a pan on high and fry your mince until well browned. Do this in batches, so the mince does not boil in its own juices.
    • Once browned, you drain the mince through a sieve to remove or reserve the rendered fat
    • Next, you fry the onions along with the garlic and ginger paste in butter or the rendered fat from the meat.Cook it slowly and make sure not to caramelise the onions. It's ok if it browns a bit but adjust the balance accordingly as caramelised onions are sweeter.
    • Once the onions are soft, add the spices apart from the ginger powder along with the raisins. Mix until combined.
    • Add the tomato paste and chutney, then cook for a further minute until the tomato paste has lost its rawness. 
    • Add the ginger powder, minced meat and cook on low heat for a few more minutes until the mix comes together.

    Baking it

    • Turn your oven to 180 °C or 356 °F. Place the dish into an oven tray filled with boiling water. This is optional, but will keep the edges from caramelising too much. Some like it that way, so do what you fancy.Bake for 35 minutes, then serve.
    • Place the bobotie mix into a ceramic baking dish. Do not press it down too firmly, but make sure the mix is evenly spread.
    • Whisk together the egg and milk, then pour it over the meat. Decorated with a few bay leaves as per tradition, if you wish. Brush the leaves with water to avoid burning.
    • Place the dish into an oven tray filled with boiling water. This is optional, but will keep the edges from caramelising too much. Some like it that way, so do what you fancy. Bake for 35 minutes, then serve.

    For the yellow rice

    • Wash the rice well until the water runs clear.
    • Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, then cover tightly with a lid.
    • Turn down the stove to its minimum and set a timer for 15 minutes.
    • Once the 15 minutes is done, place to the side and rest covered for another 3 minutes before serving.

    Video

    Notes

    1. Beef mince can be replaced with basically any other protein or vegan mince.
    2. Homemade garlic ginger paste or use store bought.
    3. Sultanas and raisins are traditional, but also optional, as not everyone likes them. Omit or use less if you prefer. Always soak in water before use.
    4. My homemade apricot chutney combines the traditional mix of jam and chutney usually called for. 
    5. Homemade curry powder is best, but a good store bought brand also works fine if you don't have the time.
    6. You can use half-half or replace with cream. If making a vegan version, use vegan milk.
    Storage instructions:
    • Can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
    • Can be frozen for up the 6 months.
    • Defrost in the fridge before heating thoroughly. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 450g Calories: 612kcal Carbohydrates: 56g Protein: 44g Fat: 23g Saturated Fat: 9g Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Monounsaturated Fat: 10g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 298mg Sodium: 1170mg Potassium: 1104mg Fiber: 4g Sugar: 30g Vitamin A: 515IU Vitamin C: 12mg Calcium: 152mg Iron: 7mg
    Keywords:bobotie, cape malay food, south african baked meat dish
    Save RecipeSaved!
    Did you make this?Tag @pantsdownapronson or hashtag #pantsdownapronson so I can see your hot skills!

    More The Best Meat Recipes

    • Homemade Cured Beef Bresaola(Video)
    • Ultimate Biltong Recipe - South African Beef Jerky (Video)
    • How To Cook A Ribeye Steak Perfectly In A Skillet
    • Slow Cooked Leg Of Lamb

    Reader Interactions

    Have your say Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    black and white picture of chef standing against wall

    Hi, I'm Charlé!

    I'm a Professional Chef.

    I believe eating and cooking well attributes majorly to a happy life.

    I am here to teach you how to.

    The best thing is.

    It's free.

    Forever.

    More about me →

    Latest recipes

    • Traditional Homemade Bread Kvass (Video)
    • Authentic Thai Red Curry Paste (Video)
    • Homemade Orange Marmalade With Pectin (Video)
    • Homemade English Muffins (Video)
    • Traditional Russian Pirozhki (Hand pies) - Complete Guide And Video
    • Garlic And Ginger Paste

    Most popular recipes

    • Bavette Steak - What Is It And How To Cook It
    • Flaxseed Meal Sourdough Bread
    • Caesar Salad Recipe
    • Juicy Oven Baked Chicken Breast
    • Authentic Indian Butter Chicken Recipe (Murgh Makhani)
    • Pork Belly Braai | Slow-Roasted Over The Fire
    • How To Make Koji (Video)
    • Burst Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella And Parsley Pasta
    • Red Lentil Soup
    • Adjika Paste | Authentic Georgian Spice Paste
    Subscribe

    Useful tools

    shop now page

    My favourite recipes

    • Luxuriously Creamy Mashed Potatoes (Video)
    • Perfect Fried Rice
    • Italian Salsa Verde - The Ultimate Green Sauce
    • Easy Thai Spiced Beef Koftas
    • Authentic Greek Salad Recipe
    • Semi Dried Cherry Tomatoes
    • Beef Adobo | Famous Filipino Streetfood
    • The Best Carrot Cake Recipe In The World Ever(Video)
    • How To Cook Rice On The Stove
    • Russian Borodinsky Dark Rye Bread (Video)
    youtube subscribe link

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Legal stuff

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.