Ok. So the plan here was to give ourselves some credibility, and show you that we don’t only know the artsy fartsy recipes.

The original potjie is the golden target of all good potjie purists. Anyone can whip out the Tofu rubbish. Not just anyone can pull together the original herbs and spices that Colonel Sanders would give his left nut for.

So for this installment of Extreme Potjie - we take a trip back in time to original potjies, the South African way.

Traditional Lamb and Dumplings Potjie Recipe

The flavour

1 tsp each of the following, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, pepper corns, coarse salt (kinda like the same stuff you would put on biltong before drying)
4-5 bay leaves
3-4 cloves
Chillis to preference.

Donder this all together in a pestle and mortar, or otherwise wrap them up in some cloth and moer it with a hammer.

 

The Other Stuff

500g lamb (knuckles, chops - anything with a some bone on it)
Three cloves garlic (diced) - always better to use fresh
500ml to 1 litre Stock - oxtail or beef will do
Bottle of white wine - don’t waste the good South African stuff, perhaps some French plonk? 
2 Onions (diced)
Potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and any other veggies you smaak.
1 tin butter beans.

 

How to do it

Get your potjie pot piping hot with some oil in it. Gooi the garlic, and onions in. When the onions are soft and transparent, throw in the spices (properly crushed and beaten) and the lamb.

Brown the lamb (brown on all sides but still succulent). Ponder for a while on how gay the word "succulent" is.

Pour in 500ml of the stock and about a glass of the wine. Gooi the lid on and leave it.

Because we are doing dumplings, we'll need more liquid than normal. This you will have to assess yourself because due to the heat of the fire and variations in cooking time - it might change from one pot to the next. What you need to keep in mind - is that right at the end, after all your veggies and stuff are in, you're going to chuck in about 8-10 golf ball size pieces of dough. They golf ball dough things need to be covered by the remaining liquid.

Now the lekker thing about a potjie is that as long as you have enough liquid you can never overcook it. Just make sure you have a steady gurgle (never a boil). As we've said before, and will say again - just listen. Let the pot talk to you.

After you've had a few beers, watched the first half of the Sharks donnering the Cheeta’s, its time to throw in the tatoes (read potatoes if our slang is getting you down). Hint: the smaller the spud, the quicker they cook.

Go back and sit on the couch for the second half. After another twenty minutes or so, tune the wife to “gooi in the rest of the veggies except the mushrooms, because you're watching the game”. If you get hit, don't blame us.

Keep an eye on the liquid level, a bit of wine here and a bit of stock there to keep everything in balance.

After the game grab the lads, stand around the fire and tell them how this recipe has been passed down the family tree for centuries. Stick a fork in the potatoes to see if they soft. When you're satisfied that potatoes are done, chuck in the butterbeans, and stoke the fire - aim to maintain current rate of gurgle for about another hour.

It's dumpling time. Gooi in the dumplings, making sure that each one is just covered with liquid. If you experience a nagging thought that you're creating lamb soup - fear not! The dumplings should soak up a lot of the liquid. Throw the mushrooms on top and cover. Now: make sure that no one lifts the lid for the next half hour - your dumplings might collapse.

Go and listen to Naas and Darren chat about how the Bulls are going to moer the Stormers into next century. Get your bowls ready and make sure the wife has cooked your rice. If you get hit, don't blame us.

Just before the next game starts, give each oke a bowl, grab some rice, ladle in some potjie, and ensure that everyone has a fair share of the dumplings. Sit back, enjoy and look forward to another great year of Bok rugby.

(TEASER: Dumpling recipe to follow. Google it in the mean time you lazy yaks.)

Much love,
Darren Ogden
Potjie Master.