Recipe of the day: Cape-style lamb potjiekos

This traditional and loved meal, a potjiekos is a classic staple South African dish, something we love doing, a dish cooked over a fire for hours while friends and family gather around the fire with a beer or glass of wine during a get-together. 

Potjiekos is a three-legged cast-iron pot to prepare whatever meat you want, however, it is usually for lamb, bone marrow, chicken or beef. 

This potjiekos recipe consists of boneless lamb cubes and is inspired by the aromatic flavours of Cape Malay spices. 

If you using lamb on a bone, it is advised you cook it for an extra hour. The estimated cooking time for this potjiekos is between 1 hour and 30 minutes to two hours. 

Cape-style lamb potjiekos

This potjiekos recipe consists of boneless lamb cubes and is inspired by the aromatic flavours of Cape Malay spices. 

• Author: Ilse van der Merwe
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Category: Lunch, Dinner
• Method: cook
• Cuisine: South African

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 45 ml vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 whole cloves
• 15ml medium curry powder
• 10ml garam masala
• 10ml fennel seeds
• 5ml ground cumin
• 5ml ground turmeric
• 15ml fresh ginger, finely chopped/grated
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped/grated
• 15ml tomato paste
• 1kg boneless lamb cubes
• salt and pepper
• 250ml water
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1kg baby potatoes
• a handful of fresh coriander leaves, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a medium-sized potjie over medium-high heat (fire or gas). 
2. Add the onion, cinnamon sticks and cloves, and fry until soft and light brown. Add the curry powder, garam masala, fennel, cumin, and turmeric and fry for 1 minute. 
3. Add the ginger, garlic and tomato paste and fry for another minute. Add the meat chunks and stir well to coat, seasoning the meat with salt and pepper. 
4. Now add the water and stir to loosen any sticky bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well and bring to a simmer. 
5. Cover with a lid and bring the heat down to very low, then simmer for 30 minutes. 
6. Add the potatoes and stir to coat in the sauce, then cook for another 30-45 minutes with a lid on until the meat is really tender and the potatoes are cooked. Keep an eye on the heat throughout – the curry will burn if the fire is too hot.

This recipe can be found on spier.co.za