Today's recipe: MINCE / GROUND BEEF FOR CURRY BUNNY OR CURRY AND RICE

The next part of our South African adventure took place in Cape Town with Lars and another divine member of my extended family whom you have as yet not met, namely my wonderful sister-in-law, Catherine. She may no longer be married to my husband’s brother, and she may try running and hiding from me, but she will always be a part of the family along with our two beautiful nieces, Anna and Maya. That’s them in the photo with Table Mountain and its tablecloth in the background.

Cath is a journalist and has been on SA TV lots – see, I know lots of celebrities. She also worked in radio and her “Oh my God, the fire is at the car! It’s at the car!” scream is still used on radio networks to show just HOW up close and personal journalists get to the action for their public. Her parents were, of course, less thrilled when they heard her trying to get away from a raging fire in Cape Town, but she persevered, escaped the fire and is still a top journalist.

On one of Catherine’s visits to our rustic homestead in France, she was paid a fatal (for Hector) visit by one of our resident spiders, Hector the Inspector. These spiders are really BIG but perfectly harmless and are always thirsty. Many a morning I get the wits scared out of me by Hector running around the kitchen sink. And no matter how many times I move him (them), they always come back, often floating in the dish water.

Cath had taken a glass of water with her to bed and had sipped from it during the night. In the morning light, she wanted to take another sip but noticed something in the glass. Yes, poor Hector had also come for a drink but ended up drowning in his sorrows. The joys of country life.

You’ll get to meet them again, but I thought it might be time to share a recipe as it has been a while since I posted one unless you count the Elephant Stew, but I have been informed that some of you are having trouble finding all of the ingredients. Apparently Warthog is not as available in Europe as it is in Africa. Sigh.

Today’s recipe is actually from my long suffering mate Vincent (you’ve met them in the post http://www.acookonthefunnyside.com/articles/braai-in-South-Africa ) and is really easy and delicious. I added a couple of extras (onions and tomatoes, to be exact), but it’s great either way.

MINCE / GROUND BEEF FOR CURRY BUNNY OR CURRY AND RICE

Curry bunny: This has nothing to do with cuddly, floppy eared bunnies, but is the South African phrase for a hollowed out loaf of bread with a curry filling. This can only be eaten with your fingers – if a true South African sees you attempting to eat this with utensils, the very least that will happen is that they will point and laugh, take photos and humiliate you openly. I mean really, a knife and fork, bah.

We also use the same filling for vetkoek ( http://www.acookonthefunnyside.com/articles/curried-mince-and-vetkoek ) – click on the link for a reminder of what it is. This time, I decided to bake the bread dough instead of frying it (ever so slightly less calories) so we had the curry with freshly baked rolls rather than fried bread. I bought the dough at my local supermarket and baked the rolls for 15 minutes at 180C/375F.

Curry powder: This recipe uses a bought curry powder, but you can use your own mix of spices if you prefer.

Potatoes: You can also add them raw when you add the tomatoes and let the pot simmer for about 15 minutes till the potatoes are cooked.

Peas: My hubby is a big pea fan, so I added 2 tins of peas – you decide!

1 tbsp oil
2 onions, chopped
1kg mince / ground beef
2 tsp mild and spicy curry powder
2 tomatoes, chopped
475g can corn / sweet corn
225g can green peas
4 tbsp chutney
Salt and pepper to taste
2 potatoes, cubed and cooked

1. Fry the onion and mince along with the curry powder till done. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes more till they are softened.

2. Add the corn, peas, chutney and potato and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Serve with vetkoek, rice or bread. Enjoy!