Recipes from the series

Sasha Blue enjoys cooking up a storm when she needs to take her mind off of her problems and retreat to a calm space. I'll be adding some of the recipes to this page so that you can release your inner Sasha Blue kitchen diva and enjoy them too!

Bobotie

 A popular South African dish consisting of spicy mince with a baked egg topping.

Delicious served with yellow rice.

In Graphic Lies, book two in The Sasha Blue Mystery Series, Sasha makes Bobotie in the chapter entitled 'The Key to the Mystery'. This is my husband's South African mother's recipe and her handwritten recipe is at the end of this post. I've doubled the quantity and increased the cooking time slightly.

Bobotie is a delicious mix of flavours with a slightly sweet, mildly curried, beef mince filling. It's a comforting dish, topped with an egg custard, which bakes to golden perfection.

Ingredients (serves 4)

500g beef mince

2 large onions

1 thick slice of bread

1 1/2 cups of milk

salt and pepper

4 eggs (use 2 dishes and beat 2 eggs in each)

1 tablespoon of medium curry powder

1 tablespoon of sugar

1/2 cup of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of butter or oil

How to make Bobotie

Pre-heat oven to 180℃

Soak the bread in half the milk

Chop the onions and fry slowly in the butter or oil

Mix curry powder, salt and pepper, and lemon juice into the onion

Add beef mince, mix well, and stir until cooked

Add the soaked bread and 2 beaten eggs

Mix well and place in pie dish

Beat the 2 remaining eggs with the rest of the milk and pour on top of the beef mixture

Dot with a few pieces of butter and place the pie dish in a pan of water

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes

Serve with fragrant Yellow Rice for a warming and delicious South African meal!

To make Yellow Rice

Rinse 500g basmati rice and place in a saucepan with 2 teaspoons of oil, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 a tablespoon of brown sugar, and 2 cups of water. 

Mix well, bring to the boil, and cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until water is absorbed.

Fluff with a fork before serving.