South Africa Cape Malay Themed Dinner

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   The Cape Malay community is an ethnic group or community in South Africa. It derives its name from the present-day Western Cape of South Africa and the people originally from Maritime Southeast Asia, mostly Javanese from modern-day Indonesia (largely speakers of Malayu, hence the name Malay), a Dutch colony for several centuries, and Dutch Malacca which the Dutch held from 1641 – 1824. The community's earliest members were enslaved Javanese transported by the Dutch East India Company. They were followed by slaves from various other Southeast Asian regions, and political dissidents and Muslim religious leaders who opposed the Dutch presence in what is now Indonesia and were sent into exile. Malays also have significant South Asian (Indian) slave ancestry.Starting in 1654, these resistors were imprisoned or exiled in South Africa by the Dutch East India Company, which founded and used what is now Cape Town as a resupply station for ships travelling between Europe and Asia. They were the group that first introduced Islam to South Africa.

Malay Food

Popular amongst Malay people are dishes such as bredie, frikkadels, denningvleis, sabananvleis, pinangkerrie, sosastie and bobotie and although the ‘Malay ‘people have changed their diet, these dishes still seem popular at the Cape.
Stews, roasts and baked vegetables still form part of the Malay diet but the food is very peppery and spicy.
Contact with the Dutch colonists left it’s mark as many old Cape dishes such as 'melktert' and 'koeksisters' are still to be found in Malay homes.

Mini sausage rolls
Makes 16
Ingredients:
500g ready-made puff pastry
Flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten
8 good quality sausages cut into two
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small handful fresh thyme leaves
Method:
Preheat the oven to 390f
Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to a rectangle of about
48x32cm.
Cut the large rectangle in half lengthways, then cut both smaller
rectangles into eight equal sections. You now have 16 rectangles
in total. Brush one end of each rectangle with a little of the beaten
egg, lay a piece of sausage at the other end, then season the
sausage with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle
with thyme leaves. Roll the sausage up in the pastry to enclose
and repeat with all the sausages. Put the sausage rolls in the fridge
for 20 minutes for the pastry to harden.
Once the pastry is hard, remove the sausage rolls from the fridge
and score the tops with a sharp knife for decoration, or prick with a
fork. Brush well all over with the rest of the beaten egg and bake in
the oven for 25–30 minutes, or until the pastry has turned golden brown
and looks crisp. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly .

Chicken & spinach curry
Ingredients
4 tablespoon oil
2 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
2 green cardamom pods
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 small-medium onion, chopped
1½ tablespoons chopped ginger
6 cloves garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon chilli powder
2 tomatoes, puréed
450g small chicken
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ bunch finely chopped spinach
Method:
Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the cloves, cinnamon,
cardamom pods and cumin seeds and fry for about 20 seconds
until aromatic.
Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes until golden brown,
stirring often. Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook stirring for 40
seconds before adding a pinch of salt and the ground spices, and
stir for 15 seconds. Pour in the tomatoes and cook over a medium
heat for about 10 minutes, until the liquid in the pan has dried off
and the oil leaves the sides of the dry masala around 10 minutes.
Add the chicken and brown over a medium-high heat for 3-4
minutes. Add enough water to almost cover the chicken (about
350ml), bring to the boil and then cook over a low heat until the
chicken is cooked through. The slower it cooks the better it tastes.
This takes about 15 minutes for small joints and up to 25-30
minutes for larger ones. Check with a fork; once it is tender it is
done.
Add the garam masala and chopped spinach. Cook a further 5
minutes. serve with rice roti.

Lemon pudding
Ingredients:
100ml butter
100g castor sugar
2 large eggs, separated
250ml self-raising flour
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
500ml milk
Method:
Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy, add yolks.
Sift flour.
Whip egg whites until stiff peaks.
Fold flour into yolk mixture with lemon rind and juice and 250ml
milk. Fold egg whites in lightly, and then stir in remaining milk.
Pour into a well-greased ovenproof dish.
Bake at 180C for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

all is from cape malyay ramadan recipes