Day 6: Make

Prompt: Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

The last thing I made (that I put any real effort into) was a vegetarian bobotie for a Chrismukkah party my friends had on the weekend. It was delicious!

Here's the recipe I use. It's really easy and soooo tasty!

Vegetarian Bobotie

By Cora_and_Clarice on June 12, 2009

Prep Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs Servings: 4

About This Recipe

"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."

Ingredients

250 g lentils

1 large onions, diced

1 large fresh tomatoes, 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 colour)

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)

Please note:

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.

Also, adding a bit more diced onion will add more texture to the lentils.