A visit to Cape Town isn’t complete without a visit to the Bo-Kaap*. The bright, colourful homes that line the cobbled streets are about 260 years old and the suburb is a melting pot of cultures – mostly descending from slaves that were imported to the Cape from Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India. The majority of these slaves were educated and those that weren’t artisans and craftsmen, were Muslim religious scholars and teachers, cruelly torn from the countries of their birth and imported to help build a country from scratch. Whilst more than 90% of the inhabitants are Muslim South Africans, more and more immigrants and young South Africans are settling in the Bokaap because it’s just beautiful and the people are so friendly. No visit to this old part of town would be complete without a lunch date at Biesmiellah, shopping at the Atlas Trading Store (probably the best place to buy spices, nuts and typical Malay necessities in Cape Town) or a guided tour to admire the historical homes and visit the local kramats** and Mosques. Cape Malay food is well known in South African and has gained popularity in many parts of the world – it famously combines spices, vegetables and fruit with meat. On festive days, people throng the streets where stalls and barbecues sell a plethora of foods, amongst them grilled chicken tikka, a southern Asian dish with many variations. The Punjabi version sees the very spicy chicken barbecued on red hot coals, in Afghanistan the chicken is less spicy whilst in the Bokaap, it’s just perfect. Chicken tikka is also used in the famous chicken tikkka masala that was made, for the first time, in Scotland –  we include an extract from BBC News: “Mohammad Sarwar, Labour MP for Glasgow Central, said he wanted the city to be given EU Protected Designation of Origin status for the curry. He has tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons calling for other politicians to back his campaign. It has previously been suggested that the mild curry was created decades ago in a Glaswegian kitchen by Asian immigrants catering to Western palates. Mr Sarwar claimed the dish owed its origins to the culinary skills of Ali Ahmed Aslam, proprietor of the Shish Mahal restaurant in Park Road in the west end of the city. He is said to have prepared a sauce using spices soaked in a tin of condensed tomato soup after a customer said his meal was too dry”.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless
• 4 tbsp chicken tikka paste – for superb results, buy some chicken tikka spice from Atlas Trading in the Bokaap and make your own paste – I always buy 2 x 200 g at a time so that I have some in stock
• 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 green cardamom pods – remove the seeds and use them, discarding the pods
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp cumin, lightly toasted and ground
• 1 tsp coriander, lightly toasted and ground
• 300g  tomatoes, peeled, drained and diced (you’ll need 300 g after it has been peeled and drained)
• 150ml freshly made chicken stock
• 1½ tsp garam masala
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 1 tsp sugar
• Sea salt to taste

Method

• Cut the chicken into bite-size chunks and mix with the tikka paste and yoghurt, allowing it to marinate overnight, stirring it occasionally – don’t use a metallic dish.
• Heat the ghee in a deep frying pan and when it’s very hot add the cinnamon, the cardamom seeds and the onion, frying for about 5 minutes until it just starts to brown.
• Now stir in the, garlic, the cumin, the coriander and the turmeric – as soon as the spices have cooked for about a minute, add the chicken pieces and the marinade and stir-fry to seal before adding the tomatoes, the chicken stock, the garam masala, the lemon juice, the sugar and the salt.
• Bring this to a simmer and cook on a low heat for about 10 – 15 minutes.
• Serve immediately  with rice or naan bread.

*(also known as the Malay Quarter)

**shrine

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This post was written by:

Jacoba Budden- who has written 71 posts on the WineCountry Blog. Jacoba's fascination with food began at a very early age and in her travels found herself gravitating towards a kitchen whenever it was possible. She traveled extensively in the past 30 years and food as well as it's history, eventually, became an all consuming obsession. Today she lives in Somerset West and when she's not studying and writing about food, she's a free lance food critic.

Author's web site: Just Food Now

Read more in Food, Food & Wine Pairings, Recipes.

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