Chakalaka Soup with Little Boerewors Balls

My upside down, inside-out version of a much-loved traditional dish. Chakalaka is a highly spiced Southern African vegetable relish usually eaten cold as an accompaniment to braaied (barbecued) meat. Here I've reinvented it as a soup bursting with punchy flavours. Topped with juicy mini-meatballs made from the squeezed-out insides of boerewors, this is a dish that will bring tears to the eyes of chakalaka devotees (and more so if you increase the quantity of fresh chillies specified in my recipe).

Chakalaka Soup with Little Boerewors Balls

Chakalaka, said to have been invented by Johannesburg's migrant mine workers, usually includes chillies, peppers and curry spices, plus - depending on who's making it - carrots, beans, cabbage, and so on.

You may be wondering why I've turned a relish into a soup. Well, because I love soup, I really do. Also, I like turning recipes around to see what happens.

This soup is good on its own, but the little spicy meatballs make it special. (I'm  grateful to my friend Nina Timm of My Easy Cooking for showing me how to make instant boerie balls.)

You can leave the baked beans out of the soup, if you like (as I did in the photographs, because I wasn't in the mood for beans) but I recommend including them because they help thicken the soup. If you can't find authentic South African boerewors, use a raw, loose-textured sausage and, before you roll it into balls,  mix in a teaspoon or so of toasted ground coriander, plus some of the spices listed in this recipe.

This is also very good with chopped green beans and cauliflower florets. If you don't have tomato juice, use a tin or two of chopped Italian tomatoes and a little tomato paste instead.

The chickpea flour and spices are used to give the meatballs a nice toasty crust. Chickpea flour, also known as channa flour, is available from spice shops.

Chakalaka Soup with Little Boerewors Balls

3 Tbsp (45 ml) sunflower oil
4 carrots, peeled
3 small green peppers, finely sliced lengthways
4 onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 green or red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or more, to taste)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 Tbsp (30 ml) grated fresh ginger
6 large, ripe tomatoes
4 cups (1 litre) tomato juice (the sort you’d use for a tomato cocktail)
3 cups (750 ml) water or vegetable stock
2 tins baked beans in tomato sauce
2 tsp (10 ml) medium-strength curry powder
1½ tsp (7.5 ml) cumin
salt and milled black pepper
½ cup (125 ml) finely chopped fresh parsley or coriander

For the boerewors balls: 
500 g slim boerewors, or similar sausage
½ cup (125 ml) channa [chickpea] flour
1 tsp (5 ml) paprika
½ tsp (2.5 ml) turmeric

Heat the oil in a large pot. Dice two of the carrots and set the others aside. Fry the diced carrots, pepper slices, onions, celery, chilli, ginger and garlic over a medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes, or until softened but not brown. Roughly chop the tomatoes, place in a blender and pulse to form a rough purée. Pour the purée, the tomato juice and the stock into the pot and cook at a brisk bubble for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam as it rises. Stir in the baked beans, curry powder and cumin, season to taste with salt and pepper and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

For the meatballs, squeeze the boerewors filling from its casing and roll into balls the size of a marble. Combine the channa flour, paprika and turmeric on a plate and lightly roll the balls in the mixture. Fry in hot oil over a medium heat for 4 minutes, or until cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper. Coarsely grate the remaining two carrots. Serve the soup piping hot, topped with hot frikkadels, grated carrot and a shower of parsley.

Serves 8. 

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Mashed Madumbis with Spring Onions, Butter and Cream

This is a version of champ - that dreamy Irish dish of potatoes, spring onions, butter and cream - but it's made with madumbis (also known here in South Africa as amadumbe).

A madumbi is a type of yam (Colocasia esculenta, or taro), with a rich earthy flavour and a starchy flesh. In South Africa, you might be able to find organic madumbis in Woolworths food stores, or perhaps at your local greengrocer's, where I bought mine.

I'm ambivalent about madumbis, but, then again, I don't have a taste for any vegetable with a starchy, slightly sweet flesh. I can do without yams (sweet potatoes, they're called here) and pumpkin entirely, and only barely tolerate butternut squash. But, in the interests of broadening my family's palate, I thought we might try mashed madumbis, champ style. They like the dish - "but we can't eat a lot of it, mom."

Madumbis tend to discolour as they are boiled, so add a thin slice of lemon, and plenty of salt, to the boiling water. Don't over-mash them, or they will become a bit glutinous.

If you can't get madumbis, try this decadent and delicious dish with ordinary potatoes. This recipe contains a scandalous amount of butter.

Mashed Madumbis with Spring Onions, Butter and Cream

6 madumbis
200 g salted butter
a small bunch of spring onions, white and pale green parts only, finely sliced
2 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup (250 ml) cream
milk to thin the mixture
salt and milled black pepper

To serve:
a few cubes of cold butter, and sliced spring onion

Bring a big pot of salted water to the boil, and add a thin slice of lemon. Peel the madumbis and cut them into small chunks. Put the chunks in the boiling water as you go. Boil until completely tender (about 40 minutes, depending on the age of your madumbis) skimming off any grey foam as it rises. Drain the chunks in a colander and set aside for a few minutes to cool and dry out. In the meantime, heat the butter in a deep pot and add the slice spring onions and the garlic. Allow to cook, very gently, for a few minutes, or until the onions are softened, but do not allow to brown. Tip the cooked madumbis into buttery spring onions and, using a potato masher, mash over a medium heat until smooth. (If you need a perfectly smooth mash, put madumbis through a potato ricer first). Add all the cream, and enough milk to make a smooth, creamy mixture. Don't over-beat the mixture, or it will become sticky. Season well with salt and pepper.

Pile the piping-hot mash onto a big platter - or onto individual plates - in a big, conical, volcano-like mound. Make a hollow in the top of the mound and fill it with a few cubes of cold butter. Scatter with a little more sliced spring onion.

Good with steak, boerewors and chicken.

Serves 6 as a side dish. Print Friendly