Ingredients

• 2 slices white bread
• 375 ml full-cream milk
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp mild Cape Malay curry powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• 1 kg beef mince
• 3 tbsp fruit chutney
• 1 tbsp apricot jam
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 60 g sultanas
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 3 eggs
• 4 leaves bay leaves
• 400 g long-grain white rice
• 800 ml water
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 stick cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 60 g seedless raisins
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. 01
   Soak the bread Turn the oven on to one hundred and eighty degrees Celsius. Tear the bread into a bowl, pour over two hundred and fifty millilitres of the milk, and leave it to soak.
2. 02
   Soften the onions Heat the oil and one tablespoon of butter in a large pan over medium heat, add the chopped onions, and fry them gently until soft and golden.
3. 03
   Toast the spices Stir in the garlic, curry powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin, and fry for about one minute until fragrant.
4. 04
   Brown the mince Add the beef mince, break it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until it loses its pink colour and any liquid has mostly cooked off.
5. 05
   Add bread and fruit Squeeze the soaked bread over a jug to keep the milk, then add the bread to the pan along with the chutney, apricot jam, lemon juice, sultanas, salt and pepper. Stir well and let it cook gently for five minutes.
6. 06
   Bake the mince Take the pan off the heat, beat in one egg, then spread the mixture evenly into a buttered ovenproof dish of about thirty by twenty centimetres, pressing it flat. Bake for twenty minutes.
7. 07
   Cook the yellow rice While the mince bakes, put the rice, water, turmeric, cinnamon stick, sugar, raisins, butter and salt into a pot, bring it to the boil, then cover and simmer on low heat until the water is absorbed.
8. 08
   Whisk the custard Top up the reserved milk with the remaining milk to make about two hundred and fifty millilitres, then whisk in the two remaining eggs with a pinch of salt.
9. 09
   Pour and bake Pour the custard over the hot mince, tuck the bay leaves upright into the top, and bake until the custard is set and golden in patches.
10. 10
    Rest and serve Let the bobotie rest out of the oven for ten minutes, remove the cinnamon stick from the rice, and serve squares of bobotie with the yellow rice and extra chutney on the side.