AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DISHES: #5 BOTSWANA: SESWAA WITH BOGOBE

I now take a turn in my trip towards Africa and the country of Botwana....

What culinary delights will I find here..... only a tasty beef dish called Seswaa with cornmeal porridge (Bogobe) and served with traditional carrot and cabbage side! So join me now as I lead you through how to make this exciting meal.

Ingredients:

Seswaa:
1 pack of diced beef
1 onion peeled & quartered
2 cloves of garlic halved
Salt
4 Bay leaves
water to cover

Bogobe:
Cormeal (fine)
Beef stock
Salt & Pepper

Carrot and Cabbage Botswanan Style:
1 large tomato (or several small ones)
1 Onion
2 carrots
Powdered Ginger
Thyme
Chilli flakes
White cabbage

Pop the beef, onion, garlic & bay leaves in a large casserole pot (I went for an orange one, but any coloured pot will do) - season with a good dose of salt and cover with water - put a lid on and put in the oven at about 160C for 4hrs stir occasionally and if it is drying out too much add a little more water.
about half hour before your beef is done then its time to prepare the rest of the dish.

 next up is the Bogobe - make up a pan of beef stock (500ml) slowly add the cornmeal - stirring or whisking continuously to avoid it going too lumply (mine was a little lumpy - see pic below - but was just about acceptable). Add enough of the cornmeal until it becomes the consistency of thick porridge.

Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 15-20 mins.

Slice up the carrots, cabbage and onion, and finely chop the tomato.

In a frying pan fry the onion and tomato in a little oil for 4-5 minutes then add the carrot and cabbage.

Add 2 teaspoons of the ginger, half a teaspoon of the chilli flakes and a tablespoon of thyme. Add salt to taste.

Ok - now get that beef out of the oven & remove the bay leaves - using a slotted spoon scoop out the beef and onion and then pound with a big spoon - the beef should break apart and look flaked.

Finally its time to plate up! Pop a big dollop of the Bogobe on a plate followed by a large spoonfull (or 2) of the Seswaa beef and add some of the cabbage and carrots on the side. Press play on your favourite traditional African music CD and bring your dish to the table.

Enjoy!

Countries to go: 75

Countries done:

#1 Peru

#2 Oman

#3 Malta

#4 Sweden

#5 Botswana

Keep following the Greedy Mancunians to see what country I 'visit' next!