Tags
barbeque, BBQ, braai, cape malay, Chicken, curry, kebabs, skewered foods, sosaties, traditional food
Sosaties are one of the great traditional South African braai (barbeque) foods of all time. Sosaties are not just any old kebabs. They’re usually lamb meat on skewers, marinated in a distinctive aromatic Cape Malay-style sauce. The term derives from sate (“skewered meat”) and saus (spicy sauce). There are a few variations to the sosatie marinade, but most at least include apricot jam, curry powder and onions. The combination of fruit and curry flavors is something you’ll see often in Cape Malay recipes, like the classic bobotie, and give such delicious results.
Today, I have decided to do a chicken sosatie. See Lamb sosaties for my lamb sosatie recipe.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut up into large cubes
1 large green pepper
1 onion
12 dried yet plump apricots
marinade:
3 small onions, diced
1-2 small chili peppers or ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons/ 30 g curry powder (depends on the strength)
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons powdered ginger
2 teaspoons ground coriander/cilantro
10 dried apricots, cut into tiny pieces
175 ml/ ¾ cup apricot jam
50 g / ¼ cup light brown sugar
150 ml / ⅔ cup white wine vinegar
300 ml / 1¼ cup water
Method:
Peel and dice the onions
Cut up the peppers finely
Heat the oil over medium heat, add the onions and chili and cook until just translucent
Add the curry, turmeric, bay leaves, ginger and coriander and allow to cook for a minute
Add the apricots and all the remaining ingredients and leave to simmer about 15 minutes
Remove from heat and allow to cool completely, about 3 hours
When cool, add the marinade to the meat and place in the refrigerator for about 24 hours ideally (minimum 4 hours)
Now cut the peppers and onions to the same size as the meat cubes
When ready to grill, thread four meat pieces alternating with green pepper, onion and apricot to make a sosatie
Remember to soak the skewers first if you are using wooden ones so that they do not burn
Heat the BBQ to about 250°C/500°F
Cook the kebabs about 10 to 15 minutes
Turn several times to make the edges golden, basting with the marinade
Enjoy! Lekker eet! Bon Appetit!
Wine suggestion: Viognier or Chenin Blanc go well with this spicy dish but if you prefer a red, Shiraz or Grenache are equally good choices
Spicy and fragrant, this curry will have you reaching for a second serving.
The Bo-Kaap, which lies on the fringes of Cape Town’s city centre, is full of character and colourful houses (pink, orange, lime green and turquoise), many of which are national monuments and date back to the 1750s, with cobbled streets that rise up to meet the lower slopes of Signal Hill on which the suburb lies. There are always children playing in the streets and the haunting call of the muezzin will remind you of exotic destinations such as Istanbul and Cairo. The smell of spices that wafts through open doorways and comes rushing out at you as you walk past Atlas Trading, the local spice emporium, inspired this recipe. A lively suburb, the Bo-Kaap’s inhabitants are a blend of cultures that descend from slaves imported by the Dutch in the 1700s. They came from Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Indonesian Archipelago. Not only were these people incorrectly branded as ‘Cape Malays’ but the Bo-Kaap became known, and remains so today, as the Malay Quarter. There is a strong Muslim influence – more than 90% of the people who live here are Muslim – as many of the early slaves were Muslim scholars and religious leaders, as well as craftsmen and artisans. This is a throwback from the apartheid era when the Bo-Kaap was declared an exclusively Cape Muslim residential area, and people of other religions and ethnicity were forced to leave.
Serves 4 to 6
Maison Travers 