If It's Good Enough for Nelson Mandela...

When I was in Cape Town, I bought a cookbook called Zhoozsh! Cooking with Jeremy and Jacqui Mansfield. G's cousin Debra thought that I might like it as he is a radio personality there with good cooking technique. So I bought it and have greatly enjoyed reading it.

For dinner tonight, I really wanted to have curry. Since I am in the countdown of a friend's wedding and the need to fit into the lovely dress I just bought, we are trying to eat more healthfully at home. As such, we started looking for a chicken curry recipe that would allow us to use the food that is currently in the house.

Enter Zhoozsh. I looked in it and found a delicious recipe that I became hell-bent on making, Madiba's Chicken Curry. For those who don't know (and I didn't), in South Africa Nelson Mandela is known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders in Mandela's clan. This recipe is one that Jeremy Mansfield made for Madiba at his home in Houghton (according to the cookbook). I made it and we served it along with a beetroot curry that G made. YUM!


Yummmmmmy!!!!!!!!!!! This was amazing!!! My version turned out beautifully, though I had to make a full adaptations in order to use what was in the house. It went something like this:

Jennifer's Take on Madiba's Chicken Curry
serves 4
3/4 lb of boneless chicken pieces (white and dark meat -- we get 1/2 chickens that are enormous from a local farm that we deboned and used for this)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 tbsp tumeric
1 large chopped onion
3 small dried chili's crushed
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp crushed ginger
2 tsp garam masala (g makes her own)
1 regular tin of diced tomatoes (410 g)
100 ml of boiling water
1/2 g-free chicken bouillon cube
Salt and Pepper as you go

1. Mix the salt, flour, and turmeric in a baggie and add the chicken cut into pieces. Shake to coat.

2. Brown in a large pan with a lid and remove.

3. Take the garlic, ginger, cumin, chili, and garam masala and smash together in a mortar and pestle. Add to the pan that you cooked the chicken in, adding more oil if necessary.

4. Add the can of tomatoes, the hot water, and the chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken.

5. Simmer for approximately 45 minutes, covered, with the lid off for the last 15 or so minutes. Serve with rice.

And G made up the beetroot curry recipe because she wanted to recreate the one that they make at Rashnaa. It was fantastic! She has graciously allowed me to print the recipe here for you...

G's Beetroot Curry
Serves 4

6 small or med beets
100 ml of coconut milk
1 onion chopped
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp curry powder (more or less depending on how hot you want it or how hot your curry powder is)
1 tomato chopped
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
juice of one lime
1 tbsp chopped ginger
salt to taste

1. Cut beets in half so all piees are roughly the same size.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3. Put beets in the foil with enough oil to cover with a pinch of cumin seeds and a smattering of whole coriander seeds. Roast in foil for 40 minutes until soft but not totally cooked. Let cool. Peel them.

4. Slice the cooked beets so that each half gives you 5 or so pieces.

5. Heat oil in medium pot and add onion. Cook to translucent.

6. Add curry powder, garlic, ginger and fry together.

7. Add mustard seed and fry until popping then add the tomato and fry until mushy.

8. Add beets and the coconut milk, then stir in the lime juice and salt. Cook for 15 or so minutes.

9. ENJOY!

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did. If you try either, let me know. And if you are able to get your hands on the Zhoozsh cookbook, I would highly recommend that you do! There are tons of great recipes, lots of cool stories, and a recipe for on of G's favorite foods Sadza and Nyama.