Bobotie

This South African recipe was given to us by Alicia Wilkinson from Silwood Kitchens in Cape Town.

Serves 8-10

30ml (1fl oz) oil 4 tbsp butter 450g (1lb) lamb, freshly minced 2 onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 110g (4oz) grated carrot 2 tsp curry powder 1 tsp ground coriander 2½ tsp ground ginger 3 tsp finely chopped fresh herbs 1 tsp turmeric ½ tsp cinnamon Sugar to taste — 1 tsp approx A piece of red chilli 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 15g (½oz) almonds, chopped Some lemon leaves or 2 tsp finely grated lemon rind 15ml (2½fl oz) wine vinegar 2 x 2.5cm (1inch) slices of sandwich loaf, soaked in water, drained and squeezed dry

Topping: 250ml (9fl oz) buttermilk 2 large eggs, free-range and organic Salt and freshly ground pepper 2½ tsp turmeric Seasoning

Heat the butter and oil, add onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add mince and stir well. Add grated carrot, spices, chilli, seasoning, chopped almonds and lemon rind. Stir well and continue to cook until the flavours mingle. Stir in the soaked and squeezed bread, and the wine vinegar. Mix well, taste and correct seasoning.

Put the meat into a shallow rectangular baking dish and smooth over.

Whisk all the ingredients together for the topping, check the seasoning and strain over the meat. Bake at once in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/gas 4 until topping is set and golden.