One of the favourite South African recipes, Piri piri chicken is made from the iconic Mozambican chilli piri piri, also known as the African bird’s eye chilli, mixed with salt, garlic, lemon, onion, oil and vinegar. This succulent feast of chicken is traditionally served with matapa, a dish of cassava leaves cooked in a peanut sauce.
Crisp-fried kapenta (sardines) are stewed with tomatoes, onions and groundnut powder, and served with fresh greens. Like other traditional African dishes, it is accompanied by sadza, a delicious maize porridge. The traditional way to eat this dish is to scoop up the sadza with your hand and to dip it or roll it in the accompanying fish and relishes.
Potjiekos (meaning ‘pot food’) is a traditional dish cooked in a three-legged pot. This mouth-watering stew made of beef, chicken and mutton, is a product of several hours of slow cooking. Cooked in layers, it is typically served with pap (porridge), amadombolo (dumplings), or umngqusho (samp and beans).
The sinewy and gelatinous cuts of meat used in potjiekos are known as stewing meat. Other meats such as venison, mutton, chicken and even fish make ideal potjiekos.
Based on rice and an exotic array of spices, this classic Cape Malay cuisine comprises of layers of rice, meat and lentils topped with crisp-fried onions. It is deliciously accompanied by an onion and tomato salad. Dotted with butter, and palate-tickling spices, this flavoursome dish is now served across restaurants and is an inevitable part of African cuisine.
Bunny chow is a half-loaf of bread, hollowed out and filled with steaming curry cooked with chicken, mutton, lamb, mince or kidney beans. It is one of the most popular takeaway meals in Durban, the seaside hub of South Africa’s ethnic Indian community. This street-side food was originally served as a filling meal to homeless people who lived on the outskirts of the city. Today, it has a huge fan following and comes as a happy alternative to sandwiches.