South African Curry and Rice - aninas recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between Indian curry and Durban curry? ›

Indian curries are usually coloured yellow with turmeric, while Durban curries, which are hotter, are coloured red with tomatoes, chillies and cayenne pepper. Expert curry makers from Durban boast that a typical Durban Masala curry powder has about 12 different ingredients in the blend.

Maize rice (or mielie rys in Afrikaans literally translates to riced corn) is made from the kernels of a specific type of white corn.

It is almost always served with "yellow rice" however; long-grain cooked with turmeric and often raisins, though it would also be nice, I think, with mashed sweet potato or roasted squash, and a glass of robust red like a local cabernet sauvignon, whose smoky fruit pairs well with the sweet gaminess of the lamb.

You don't always have to serve rice with curry. In fact, often curry is eaten with flatbreads alone! Dishes like Biryani come with rice as a staple, which can perhaps suggest rice is not always the standard accompaniment to a curry we've come to know in Western culture.

Indian curry powders tend to have more chile powder in them while Jamaican curry powder. Some commercial versions may have a bit of cayenne pepper in them, but most recipes usually omit that spice. So Jamaican curry powder is more mild in that way.

One advantage is that corn has a higher nutritional value than rice, making it a potentially healthier option . Additionally, corn can be processed into ready-made household products, such as instant rice, which can have a longer shelf life .

Mielies. Simply put a mielie is a cob of corn. South Africans often braai mielies (barbecue cobs of corn) as a side to their main meat course.

Khumalo tells Health For Mzansi that mealie meal contains a wide range of nutrients that can be beneficial for overall health and immunity. These nutrients include vitamins A, B, and C, as well as minerals like iron and zinc.

Bobotie. Another dish thought to have been brought to South Africa by Asian settlers, bobotie is now the national dish of the country and cooked in many homes and restaurants. Minced meat is simmered with spices, usually curry powder, herbs and dried fruit, then topped with a mixture of egg and milk and baked until set ...

What is South Africa's national dish? ›

Considered by many to be the South African national dish, Bobotie (pronounced ba-bo-tea) is a meat-based dish and one of the most well-known examples of Cape Malay cuisine.

Wet curries contain significant amounts of sauce or gravy based on broth, coconut cream or coconut milk, dairy cream or yogurt, or legume purée, sautéed crushed onion, or tomato purée.

What's In Curry Powder? Curry powders usually consist of turmeric, cumin, ginger, and black pepper. Some blends also incorporate garlic and cinnamon. What all curry powders share is a sweet warmth and pleasant pungency that adds a toasty depth to everything it touches.

The curry base is made with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, red chilli powder and garam masala. I prefer to go with potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, cauliflower, corn and bell peppers. Though you can use other veggies like baby corn, sweet potato and broccoli, the curry will have different flavors.

Durban curries are said to be much hotter than other curries and will often incorporate the use of hot and spicy cayenne pepper, or a very hot spice known as curry masala, which is different from store-bought curry powder.

The Spice Spectrum of Durban Curry

On the Scoville scale, which measures the pungency or heat of chili peppers, these ingredients can rank anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). This intensity puts Durban curry on the higher end of the spice spectrum, comparable to a moderately hot habanero pepper.

There are three main types of Thai curries—red, yellow, and green—which are categorized by the color of the curry paste. The color of the chilies and other ingredients gives each curry its distinct hue. Traditionally, all Thai curries were made with the same ingredients except for one thing: the chilies.

On the east coast of South Africa, around the humid port city of Durban in Kwa-Zulu Natal, a unique style of Indian cookery exists, having taken root since 1860, when the first Indian indentured labourers arrived to work on the British-run sugar cane plantations.