Supper With Sam

Archive for the ‘Braai Food’ Category

Chakalaka is a spicy vegetable relish used most often at braai's with meat and pap.Because I love all things spicy the tin of chakalaka immediately caught my attention. In fact, I thought you could only get it in a tin and we have definitely tried many brands and variants and loved all of them.This was until we had a braai with work colleagues and one of the ladies volunteered to bring her mom's home made chakalaka. I was converted and immediately demanded a recipe. I don't use quite as much oil or chilli as she did, but basically the recipe remains the same.

Grate onions, garlic and carrots. Thinly shred cabbage and slice green peppers. The amounts will depend on how much you make but remember,cabbage always reduces considerably in bulk when cooked. Fry the onions,garlic and carrots in about 1/4 cup of oil ( more if you are making a big pot full).

When the onions are transparent add the cabbage and green peppers and fry until the cabbage is soft. Add one or two tins of chopped tomatoes, some chillies (either green or red and however many you want for heat) and some curry powder. Don't add too much curry powder, maybe a teaspoon, as the taste should not overpower the rest of the dish. Add one or two vegetable stock cubes and allow to simmer very gently on the stove for about two hours.

By now, you should have a pot of rich, red, spicy vegetables that shine in the oil. Chakalaka is best served at room temperature as a side-dish or relish at a braai.It is a fantastic accompaniment to boerewors and is great with pap. I actually have it on toast as a relish with cheese, or sometimes just eat it in spoonfuls out of the bowl!

Because it takes a bit of time to cook, I make a big pot full and preserve the rest in jars. Prepare the jars properly by making sure they are perfectly clean. I normally put a little water in the bottom and whizz them in the microwave for about a minute. This effectively sterilizes the jars and warms the glass. Fill the jars with warm chakalaka and close the jars tightly. The chakalaka will keep for a few weeks in your store cupboard - if you don't eat it before then!

Yes, you've guessed it. Carrot, apple and lettuce is all I had in the house in the way of vegetables. Hence the saying " Necessity is the mother of invention"! Because I try to make a salad with every meal (and almost always have salad vegetables available) it came as a shock when I opened the fridge about 10 minutes before supper and found a head of iceberg lettuce and not much else!

I shredded the lettuce, grated an carrot and cored and sliced some lovely pink apples. I mixed it all together and then mixed a table spoon of peanut butter, tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar together. I poured this over the salad and was pleasantly surprised!

Peanut butter brings out the nutty sweetness of carrots and really compliments sweet, juicy apples. This combination is balanced by the iceberg lettuce which adds a cool, crispness to the dish. Amazingly enough, something that started out of desperation has become a salad that I will certainly make again, especially in the cool autumn days when you don't always feel like a salad but know that you need some raw veggies as they are good for you!

A braai is always an occasion in our house and side dishes are what makes it all the more interesting.

Every meal I make is accompanied by a green salad - summer or winter. I believe this is a way of eating raw, crunchy, healthy vegetables. However as we are coming into Autumn and the days are getting cooler you feel the need for something a little more comforting, a little less healthy, a little heavier.

The other day we had my mom and dad around for a braai. It was a perfect autumn day with lovely warm sunshine and a slight, coolish breeze. I made my normal green salad and then made a trio of side dishes - bean salad, roasted beetroot and roasted pumpkin.

The bean salad is really easy. I opened a tin of mixed beans, chopped onion and red pepper into small blocks and added it to the beans. I then mixed a 1/4 cup of oil, 1/4 cup of vinegar and 2tsp of sugar together. I poured it over the beans and left themto marinade for about 3 hours before serving.

For the roasted beetroot I took a bunch of fresh beetroot and cut off the stalks. I then cut each beetroot globe into wedges. I don't peel them (actually I hate peeling vegetables, so if they don't have to be peeled, Idon't!) I then drizzled olive oil over the wedges and seasoned with salt and pepper. Thewedges get baked in an oven (180°C) with some whole garlic cloves for about 40 minutes. remove them from the oven and splash some balsamic vinegar over. I crumbled some blue cheese on the top, but you could also use feta cheese.

Roasted pumkin is a lovely autumn dish. Just take some chunks of pumkin, place them in an ovenproof dish, drizzle with oil and roast in the oven until golden and crispy. I stirred through a couple of tablespoons of hummus and sprinkled them with mixed seeds afterwards.

Delicious.