Vegetarian Bobotie

Submitted by Cora_and_Clarice

"This is my own vegetarian adaptation of the traditional Cape Malay dish of my country. I have tried to approximate flavour and texture as closely as possible and have retained all the ingredients my mother used when making it - aside from the mince, of course :) This project has been very important to me as most of the vegetarian versions I have found online so far are rather inaccurate. Bobotie was one of my favourite dishes as a child and I wanted to preserve and share that memory as much as I could."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 250 g lentils
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large fresh tomato, diced
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons chutney
• 1 large handful raisins
• 40 g sliced almonds

• For the topping

• 3 eggs
• 100 -150 ml milk (not entirely sure about the amount as I do it by feel, your topping should have a very pale yellow c)
• 2 bay leaves (I tear mine up a bit, but some people put them in whole, up to you)

directions

1. Rinse lentils until water runs clear.
2. Cover lentils with water and pre-cook for 30min (you may need to top the water up from time to time).
3. Drain lentils.
4. Preheat oven to 150C.
5. Saute onion and tomato.
6. Add curry, tumeric, salt and pepper.
7. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
8. Add raisins, almonds, chutney, onion and tomato to lentils.
9. Mix and place in baking dish.
10. Shake up topping ingredients and pour over lentils.
11. Place in oven and bake for 1-1/2 hours (egg topping should have risen all the way to the middle)
12. Please note:.
13. I spice my bobotie mildy and use a slightly sweet sultana chutney - one preference found in the Cape. Some people make theirs hotter and use Mrs. Ball's Original Chutney, which is very tasty and is less sweet. I recommend you experiment, but remember, the dish should be spicy as in flavoursome, not as in burn-your-mouth.
14. Also, adding a bit more diced onion will add more texture to the lentils.

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

I had just exactly the homemade raisin chutney I needed for this recipe, but then I make a lot of different ones & usually have 5-6 kinds on hand! Also used almost all of the 2/3 cup of milk suggested for the topping, & was very satisfied with the results! Oh, yes, I did cut back a little on the amount of curry, but that was about it! This is definitely something I'd like to make & enjoy again! Thanks for sharing the recipe! [Tagged, made & reviewed in New Kids on the Block tag]

 

[Grace M.]

The absence of mince meat makes this dish feel very different from the bobotie I had in South Africa, but I don't mind--I like this dish even better! I added a little more onion to add extra texture, as the author recommends. I could only find a few varieties of chutney at my grocery store (in the US); I went with Crosse & Blackwell's Hot Mango Chutney, and it was great! I also used golden raisins (sultanas) and about 1 cup of canned diced tomatoes because that's what I had on hand. I didn't have pre-sliced almonds, so I sliced them myself and got some larger pieces, which actually worked out well, texture-wise. It was difficult not to eat the lentil mixture before baking! I think I added somewhere around 1.5 tsp of salt and .5 tsp of pepper (I went by taste). Next time, I might try substituting some hot madras curry powder to increase the spice, as my chutney didn't lend much heat. I am excited to serve this to vegetarians and omnivores alike. Thanks!

 

[David M.]

Made for a lunch and not an experienced cook or veggie cook and it got rave reviews!!