Sunday
The base bredie — lamb, potato and green pepper
The mother recipe every South African bredie is built on: lamb browned properly, onions cooked down to nothing, green pepper, potatoes, and time.
Lamb, always. Mutton is traditional and it is stronger, but lamb is sweeter and I prefer it. Everything after this is a variation — you add the vegetable that names the pot.
Method
- 01
Season the lamb well and brown it hard in the oil, in batches, in a heavy cast iron pot. Do not crowd it — the browning is the flavour and there is no way around it.
- 02
Lift the meat out. Turn the heat down and cook the onions in the same fat for a full 15 minutes until soft, sweet and beginning to collapse. Add the garlic for the last minute.
- 03
Return the lamb, add the bay, allspice, coriander and a good grind of pepper, then pour in the stock. It should come about halfway up the meat, no more.
- 04
Cover and simmer very gently for 1½ to 2 hours, until the lamb pulls away from the bone. Check now and then; a bredie should never boil.
- 05
Add the potatoes and green pepper, tuck them under the liquid, and cook for another 35 to 45 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to thicken the sauce at the edges.
- 06
Taste for salt, take out the bay leaves, and let the pot stand off the heat for 15 minutes before serving. It settles and thickens as it rests.
- 07
Serve with white rice, or with bread to wipe the plate.
Keep cooking
