Bobotie

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Tear 1 slice of white bread into a small bowl, pour over 40 ml of the milk and leave to soak for 10 minutes until completely soft. At the same time cover 15 g of raisins with warm water and leave to plump, then drain.
2. Warm 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and cook 1 small of finely chopped onion for 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and just turning golden at the edges.
3. Lower the heat, stir in 1 clove of crushed garlic, 2 tsp of medium curry powder and 0.25 tsp of turmeric and fry for 1 minute until fragrant — do not let the spices catch. Add 150 g of beef mince, break it up with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, just until no pink remains; it should stay moist rather than browning hard.
4. Squeeze the surplus milk from the bread and mash the bread into the meat, reserving any squeezed milk. Off the heat stir in the drained raisins, 1 tbsp of apricot jam, 2 tsp of lemon juice, 0.5 tsp of salt and 0.25 tsp of black pepper. Taste: it should be gently sweet, sour and warmly spiced.