Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Meat
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos

South African chakalaka by the Thames – Scenes from a braai III

by Jeanne Horak on October 5, 2006 3 Comments in Braai/Barbecue, Gluten-free, Recipes, South African, South African products, Vegan, Vegetarian

Chakalaka © J Horak 2006

Well, you’ve heard about the stuffed pork fillets on Friday night.  You’ve heard about the lamb sosaties on Saturday night.  Time now to conclude this series of weekend braais/barbecues with this past Sunday’s contribution. As I may have mentioned in the past, my other half Nick rowed competitively for many years.  In fact, I don’t think I saw him for much of the early part of our marriage as he was always either on the water, driving to a regatta, or in the gym!  Luckily, sanity prevailed about a year ago and he has since scaled back his rowing to a purely social level.  But the one thing he does still get involved with every year is the annual fundraising braai at his rowing club.  The club has an absolutely spectacular setting on the Thames at Greenwich – right on the water, with a deck which is lapped by the incoming tide – that’s how up close and personal you get to the river! Your views include the impressive skyline of Canary Wharf directly ahead, the Millennium Dome to your right, and a perfect sunset gazing upstream to your left.

It must be said that he has always done a great job – past successes have included his famous stuffed beef fillet, chicken sundowners (wings stretched out and then skewered along their length, marinaded and braaied), and whole chickens with a curried apple stuffing.  And there are always 20+ people, so it takes quite a bit of skill to get everything cooked and everyone fed at approximately the same time, given the limited braaing facilities at the club.  And yet, every year he pulls it off.  Like I have said before, he’s a keeper 😉 But I think the reason why we keep returning is that the This year he decided that, in order to save his own sanity, he would make only one simple dish (instead of trying to present a few South African specialities as he has in the past) – and what can be simpler than… boerie rolls!! Method:  Find a deck with a great view of the Thames, prepare a braai fire, slap some coils of boerewors on the braai (see picture above) and when cooked, serve in 6-inch lengths on hot dog rolls!

But that would have been TOO simple, and most of those attending the braai are already familiar with boerewors, following on Nick’s prior culinary mission work amongst the club members 😉  So he had to spice things up a little, and the idea he hit upon for this purpose was chakalaka.  Now chakalaka is an odd creature in terms of parentage, not to mention etymology – I can find no info on that score. (The closest I have come is finding a recipe for chakcuaca which is apparently a Tunisian “warm salad” containing garlic, onions, peppers and tomatoes.)  There is definitely an middle-Eastern influence in that curry, ginger and chiles are essential ingredients – in this sense it has a lot in common with sambals and chutneys.  However, it is also likely that chakalaka was a favourite of (predominantly black) workers on the mines around Johannesburg, who added their own twist by making tinned baked beans a regular addition to the recipe (it made for a quick, cheap and nourishing meal).  The mineworkers belonged to many of the various tribes of Southern Africa (Shona, Venda, Zulu, Sotho and Xhosa, to name but a few) and when they went on home to their far-flung villages, they would take this new Big City chakalaka recipe with them, thus establishing it as a firm favourite throughout the country.

 

 

Don’t think for a minute, though, that there is agreement on what goes into the dish, how it should be served, or as what it should be classified  (Brian from Kitsch ‘n Zinc has a great post about the debate).  Suffice to say that the basic ingredients always include onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, chillies and curry powder (and almost always baked beans and grated carrot).  However, other recipes may include fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, chunks of cauliflower or sliced courgettes (making it more of an atchar).  The bottom line is that you can play around rather a lot with the recipe, depending on what’s in your cupboard and vegetable rack, and that’s always a good thing in my book.  As for serving, it can be served hot or cold, depending on whether you are using it as a relish or a more integral part of the meal.  Which brings me neatly to the last dilemma – its classification.  It has variously been called a soup, a vegetable side dish, a relish, a salad, a ketchup, or an integral part of the main meal (and plenty more besides!). It can be served on its own, with a meat stew, on bread, on potatoes, on rice, on boiled samp (crushed dried maize), on a stiff polenta-like porridge, or (as we did) as a relish on boerewors rolls on the banks of the Thames with a couple of good friends 😉

It is possible to buy tinned chakalaka in every supermarket in South Africa (All Gold makes both a mild ‘n spicy and a hot version; and Koo makes mild, spicy and extra hot variations as well as extra hot with beans, one with butternut squash and one with sweetcorn), and almost all South African shops around the world.  But Nick decided to go the artisanal route (!) and make his own from scratch.  I have no idea what recipe he used – he cobbled something together from various sources on the net, so the recipe I have used below is Brian‘s.  Nick’s version called for baked beans and grated carrot, but not for “extra” vegetables like courgettes or cauliflower (he left the coriander out too, meaning that there was a bunch for me to use in my tabbouleh!).  He also went quite easy on the chiles and the curry powder, both to spare my palate and so as not to frighten the paying guests, but you can crank up the heat as much as you like by playing with the amount and type of both.  I had never been a fan of chakalaka, fearing its legendary curry-chile punch but I have to say that what Nick created was rather heavenly – tasting of fresh, zingy ingredients and looking colourful and enticing.  It was perfect as a relish on the boerie rolls and despite our hopes that we would get to take home some of the chakalaka for ourselves, the whole pot was polished off in no time at all.

 

Chakalaka boerewors roll

 

It’s a bit fiddly to make, so rather make lots (we made a double batch) and freeze what you don’t use.   The flavours improve if it is kept in the fridge overnight and reheated, and then you can use it on almost anything – a sauce for fish fillets; a dip with pita bread; a relish with cold meats and cheese; mixed with chunks of butternut, courgette and broccolli and baked with some cheese on top; on couscous; on baked potatoes; or as a stuffing for either butternut or bell peppers.  A rainbow of possibilities.

CHAKALAKA (8-10 servings – more if used only as a sauce/relish)

Ingredients

250 ml sunflower or canola oil

30 g fresh chopped ginger

30 g fresh chopped garlic

20 g chopped chiles (choose your type according to how much heat you like!)

200 g chopped onion

500 g tomatoes roughly chopped

100 g green pepper roughly chopped

100 g red pepper roughly chopped

20 – 50 g leaf masala (or curry powder of your choice)

200 g grated carrot

450 g tinned baked beans, undrained

10g fresh chopped coriander/cilantro leaves

Method

Fry the ginger, garlic, chillies and onions in the oil. Add the curry powder of your choice and mix well.

Add the tomatoes and cook over medium heat for 10 mins until they start to break down.  Then add the peppers and carrots and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Add baked beans and cook until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly.  You can get away with cooking the mixture for only 5-10 minutes at this stage, but the longer you can simmer it, the more complex and melded the flavours will be.

Remove from heat and add coriander.  Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.

Related posts:

Lamb sosaties with a view – Scenes from a braai II

Pork fillet stuffed with pear and sage – Scenes from a braai I

More deliciousness for you!

  • Curried vegetable potjiekosCurried vegetable potjiekos
  • Paella for a Spanish wine afternoonPaella for a Spanish wine afternoon
  • Creamy chickpea, spinach and zucchini curryCreamy chickpea, spinach and zucchini curry
  • One-pan breakfast hash for a lazy weekendOne-pan breakfast hash for a lazy weekend

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Munich Oktoberfest 2006 diary
Cocina Mexicana for London food bloggers »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Bachelor Chef says

    October 6, 2006 at 1:12 pm

    Are those stuffed pork fillets like sausages with the intesines..

    Reply
  2. herschelian says

    October 6, 2006 at 7:18 pm

    Please tell us where Nick got his coils of boerewors…my local butcher does sell boeries (amongst other sausages) but they are in links. Please indulge in some shameless advertising, I would luurve some boerie rolls for Saturday lunch, one of my childhood faves! BTW I have just sourced some excellent samoosas, more like the ones we get in the Cape, and with salad they are a great Saturday lunch.

    Reply
  3. Jeanne says

    October 10, 2006 at 2:27 pm

    Hi Bachelor Chef
    Erm… no, the stuffed pork fillets are pork tenderloin sliced open and filled with pear & sgae before being sewed shut. However, the coils of boerewors on the pictures above are spicy pork and lamb sausage in pork casings. Hope that answers your question!
    Hi Herschellian
    Our boerewors is always made by Web Butchers (Southfields) in great big coils! We don’t schlep all the way down there – they also distribute through African Enterprises under the arches on Villiers Road at Embankment. In fact, if you look at South African shops rather than English butchers, you are more likely to find it in coils instead of links. I provided a list of potential suppliers in this post: http://cooksister.typepad.com/cook_sister/2004/05/desperately_see.html
    Hope that helps!

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Enter your address to subscribe via e-mail

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Potted smoked salmon with quick pickle apple slaw
  • Discovering the wines of Pays d’Oc
  • Cranberry pistachio Bircher muesli – a Pret-a-Manger fakeaway
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts
  • Myristica Grenadian supperclub
  • 8 favourite Singapore food experiences
  • Sticky spiced plum upside-down cake and 16 years of blogging
  • IT restaurant

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
My big, fat South African potato bake
How to sautée Brussels sprouts

Featured on

Also available on

As a girl who lived more than half her life in the As a girl who lived more than half her life in the African sun, February and March are the hardest months for me to bear in the UK. All the excitement of Christmas and New Year has faded; the credit card bill has arrived; the sun is still setting before I finish work; and the snow that we all hoped for at Christmas finally arrives and disrupts everything. This is why, every year in Feb/March since I moved to the UK (other than the year I broke my femur a week before I was due to fly!), I decamp to South Africa for 2 weeks to visit my family and get my fix of vitamin D (and vitamin Sea!).

This week I should have been here - the Beacon Island hotel in Plettenberg Bay, which I have been visiting since I was about six years old. It is where I go to lift my spirits and clear my head. But for the last 2 years, Covid has meant that I have not been able to go home - or see my family. 

For the most part, although I miss travel, I am secretly quite liking taking a breather and being able to be home without FOMO for a while. But not being able to see my family has been incredibly hard, particularly as I have no family in this country.  And my blood boils at people bending the rules (a dentist appointment in Tenerife when you live in Manchester? Seriously??) to go on holiday while I have not seen my clinically vulnerable brother in two years. Covidiots.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as vaccinations are widely rolled out and international travel becomes practical again, I will be on a plane to South Africa so fast it will make your head spin.

Where will YOU head to first once we are able to travel again,  and why?
Love is in the air... 💕 Are you making a speci Love is in the air... 💕

Are you making a special dinner for your sweetheart tonight? This potted hot-smoked salmon with a pretty pink apple and red onion pickle is easy to prep and oh-so-delicious! It's also gluten-free if you serve it with GF crackers. Full recipe now on the blog - tap the live link on my bio to view. 

Are you doing anything special to celebrate today? Let me know in the comments! 💖
Ready for a wine tasting? 🍷 [Press trip] Back Ready for a wine tasting? 🍷

[Press trip] Back before Covid put our lives on hold, I spent a few days in the Languedoc-Rousillon wine region of France learning about (and tasting!) Pays d'Oc IGP wines. 

Want to learn more about the region's wines? Read on, swipe through the images (remember to  bookmark this post to refer back to later) - and click the live link in my bio for the full blog post! 

🍷 The Languedoc-Rousillon region is the largest wine producing region in the world, and produces about a third of all French wine. Pays d'Oc IGP is a classification region within Languedoc-Rousillon, with vineyards that take up over half the total vineyard area in the Languedoc-Rousillon region. Pays d'OC IGP wines account for about 20% of the total of all French wine produced.

🍷IGP stands for Indication Geographique Protegée, meaning it is a protected indication of origin and wines must be made only from approved grape varieties that must be grown entirely within the region's geographic boundaries.

🍷 Most French wines are named for their region (Bordeaux, Chablis, Champagne) but you won't see the name of the grape variety on the label. In response to consumer demand and the New World trend to label wines with grape varieties, rules were changed in Pays d'Oc in the late 1980s and Pays d'Oc wines now account for 92% of French varietal wines (e.g. labelled Chardonnay, Syrah, Viognier etc.).

🍷 There are 58 grape varieties that are allowed to be planted in the region but the Pays d'Oc IGP varietal wines to watch out for include Chardonnay, Rolle (another name for Vermentino) and Viognier among the whites; and Syrah, Mourvedre and Pinot Noir among the reds.

🍷 All wines labelled Pays d'Oc IGP are sampled and approved in a blind tasting by a panel of professionals, meaning the label is a guarantee of quality to the consumer. 

🍷 Producers that you should look out for include Gerard Bertrand, Domaine Gayda, Les Jamelles, Les Yeuses, Paul Mas and Domaine Aigues Belles.

First 📸: @everyglassmatters
New year's resolutions: waste of time or the way f New year's resolutions: waste of time or the way forward?

I have mentioned before that I don't really make new year's resolutions. There is always so much pressure to make them BIG lofty goals and this is essentially what dooms them to failure. Instead, for the past few years I have made a list of... affirmations? Mantras? I have yet come up with a word that does not make my toes curl 🤣

These are essentially reminders rather than goals - presets, if you like, for the year ahead. I keep them in a handwritten list next to my computer and when I don't know how to react to something or how to shake a mood, I read them and there is usually an answer in there somewhere. 

Given the bruising year last year was, and how 2021 has so far proven itself to be not much better, I really wanted to add something practical to this year's list to lift my spirits on days when I am down. And for that I borrowed shamelessly from the wonderful @gretchenrubin:

🌈  ACT THE WAY YOU WANT TO FEEL 🌈

And this photo is a reminder of how I want to feel on so, so many levels: hanging out with friends; dancing in the sunshine; wearing my favourite red dress; travelling (this was in Carouge, Switzerland); and surrounded by a rainbow of colour. I can't travel and I can't see friends, but I can dance in my kitchen, singing at the top of my voice wearing my brightest clothes. 

What strategies do you use to lift your spirits? I'd love to hear! 

📸 by @tasteofsavoie
If you, like me, are mssing your Pret-a- Manger Bi If you, like me, are mssing your Pret-a- Manger Bircher muesli during lockdown, you will want to bookmark this post right now! 🔖

I have learnt a few things during lockdown. I have learnt that I am more comfortable spending long periods alone than I had ever imagined; that I suffer a lot more from FOMO (fear of missing out!) than I would like to admit; and that pre-Covid I spent rude sums of money on commuting and barista coffee...! 

I also learnt that although I miss travel and social events and meals out, it is often the smaller things that you miss most acutely - the freedom to call up a friend you haven't seen in a while and inviting them over. Hugging (or even seeing) my family. And grabbing a macchiato and a Pret Bircher muesli on the way to work. Don't ask me why, but it became a small obsession of mine to create a fakeaway Pret Bircher during lockdown - and I think I have succeeded! Here's how:

For 2 servings you will need:
100g rolled oats
200ml milk or water
1 Tbsp sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds 
1 Tbsp shelled pistachio nuts
1 Tbsp dried cranberries 
2 small apples
175g plain yoghurt
Honey
Pomegranate rails

Mix the oats, seeds, nuts and cranberries together then add the milk/water and a pinch of salt. Mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight. 

When ready to serve, grate the apples and mix them in with the oats and yoghurt (add a little extra milk to loosen if needed). Stir in honey to taste and serve topped with pomegranate arils and pistachios. Full recipe and more photos are available now on the blog - click the live link in my profile.

Did you try any fakeaway recipes over lockdown? Please let me know in the comments - I would love to hear about it!
Me, turning around and walking out on 2020 like a Me, turning around and walking out on 2020 like a bad romance...

And while we are on the topic, can I still get a refund on the first week of 2021? Not sure it was fit for purpose... 🤣 Either way, I am putting on my brightest dress, fixing my eyes firmly on the future and walking purposefully towards it (bottle of wine optional but always welcome!). 

I don't make resolutions at new year, but I have been thinking about what positives I want to carry forward with me as I walk away from the car crash of a year that was 2020. For me, some big positives have been:

* Working from home, in terms of increased flexibility, increased productivity and increased visibility - I definitely hope never to have to work in the office 5 days a week again. 
* Better and more regular exercise. I ran 585km in 2020, probably as much as in all previous years put together - let's see what I can do in 2021!
* Better connection  and more video calls to faraway friends and family. Why have I not always made video calls?? 

I don't think we need to even mention the many negatives of the last year, but I am curious to know if you took any positives away from 2020? Let me know in the comments 🙂

Onwards and upwards!
One last look back at the kettle of crazy that was One last look back at the kettle of crazy that was 2020 before we dive headlong into 2021... 

I am guilty of not posting as much as I would have liked to in 2020 but as it turns out, I find it hard to be on social media much if I am not in a good headspace. Who knew... 😜 A lot of my posts were memories of previous trips but a huge thank you to you all for indulging my travelstalgia (if that is not a word, it should be!), coming along for the ride, liking, commenting, and sharing your thoughts. 

So I give you my #topnine2020 posts, in order of most likes over the past year. Left to right, starting top left, we have The Shard in London; my sesame ginger Brussels sprouts; Keukenhof garden tulips; Christmas at London's Spitalfields market: Carcasonne; my sticky plum upside-down cake; Singapore shophouses; Grenada harbour; and a raspberry & hibiscus G&T.

Here's to making new memories in 2021, and wishing you all a year of abundance x
So how was your Christmas day yesterday? In this So how was your Christmas day yesterday? 

In this year that has been so hard on so many people,  I hope you had somebody to share it with; enough food to feel replete; and warm place to eat. I know it was  not the Christmas that we all wanted, but it was definitely the Christmas that reminded us to count our blessings. 

One of the blessings at my table was one of the best Brussels sprout recipes I have ever had - roasted sprouts with chorizo, hazelnuts and thyme - and with only 4 ingredients, so simple to make! Trust me, you want to bookmark this one 🔖

For 4 people you need:
* 500g trimmed Brussels sprouts 
* 75g chorizo, chopped
* 15g hazelnuts
* sprig of thyme
* vegetable oil

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Halve each sprout lengthways and toss the sprouts in enough oil to lightly coat. Arrange on a baking sheet, cut side down. Roast for 15 mins or until outer leaves start to brown, then turn over and roast till cut sides just start to colour (about 10 mins). 

2. While the sprouts are roasting,  toast the hazelnuts in a large dry pan over medium heat till light brown, remove and roughly crush.

3. In the same pan, fry the chorizo  till it starts to release its oil, then remove sprouts from the oven and add to pan. Mix well.

4. Tip sprouts into a serving bowl and top with hazelnuts and thyme leaves. Serve hot.
"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoug "The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts." - Marcus Aurelius

I think we can all agree that 2020 was not the year that we ordered and was a really difficult year for almost everyone (other than maybe Jeff Bezos...).

I could so easily dwell on all the things I have found hard this year - being separated from my family in South Africa and no realistic hope of seeing them anytime soon; no travel since Oct 2019; the social isolation of living alone in a pandemic; having friends fall ill with Covid; and the huge anxiety brought on by the uncertainty of everything and the complete inability to plan anything (hard for a planner and control freak!).

But as the quote says, think dark thoughts and your soul ends up dark. So I have chosen to dye my soul in the bright colours of things I am grateful for instead: a rewarding job that i can do remotely; amazing friends to Zoom or call around the world; a house of my own that I love; a beautiful running route minutes from my door; and a strong, healthy body.

What colour are you dyeing your soul in this Christmas?

🎄🎄🎄
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli
Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts
Plum upside down cake
plum flapjack crumble
Sesame ginger Brussels sprouts
Jersey-royals-salmon-salad2 © Jeanne Horak 2019
Beef-Udon-noodle-stir-fry-title

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2021 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2021 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.