Chakalaka Boerewors
Overview
Chakalaka boerewors puts two South African staples together: boerewors, the coiled farmer's sausage of beef and spice that is the centre of any braai, and chakalaka, the spiced vegetable relish of onion, pepper, carrot, chilli and beans that goes alongside almost everything. Boerewors is protected by law in South Africa. Regulations set a minimum meat content and cap the amount of cereal and fat, and coriander is the defining spice, with nutmeg, cloves and allspice alongside it. It is always sold and cooked as a continuous coil rather than in links, and cutting it into pieces before cooking, as this recipe does, is a departure from how it is usually treated. Chakalaka's origins are generally placed in the townships of Johannesburg, where it is said to have been made by mineworkers from what was available, and it has since become a national side dish served hot or cold. The two together, cooked in one pan over a fire, is home cooking rather than a documented traditional dish, and the source describes it in the first person as something the contributor made. It is included as given.
AFN Heritage Note
Boerewors is a South African coiled sausage defined by law on minimum meat content and characterised by coriander. Chakalaka is a spiced vegetable relish generally traced to the townships of Johannesburg.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Make a fire, or set a pan over medium heat.
- 2
Put a little sunflower oil in the pan and let it heat for about a minute.
- 3
Add the boerewors pieces to the pan.
- 4
Add the crushed garlic, Aromat, barbecue spice, crushed chillies, bay leaves and salt.
- 5
Cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, until the boerewors is cooked through.
- 6
Stir the chakalaka through and warm it briefly before serving.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Lisias Johanna- Boerewors is normally cooked as a whole coil rather than cut into pieces, which keeps it juicier. Cutting it first, as here, lets more fat render out.
- Cook it over moderate heat rather than fierce. Boerewors has a high fat content and a hot pan splits the casing.
- Do not prick the sausage. It is the most common mistake made with boerewors and it drains out what keeps it moist.
- Chakalaka is usually served alongside rather than cooked in. Stir it through at the end so it warms without breaking down.
- Aromat and the barbecue spice named in the source are specific South African products. Any seasoned salt and barbecue rub will stand in.
Reviews
5 reviews
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Never heard of Aromat before making this, but I managed to find a bottle online along with a tin of chakalaka. The combination of barbecue spice, crushed chillies, and bay leaves while covering the boerewors pieces smelled incredible after about 8 minutes on the stove. Served it over pap for my family and everyone loved the kick!
Tracked down proper beef boerewors and canned chakalaka at a South African shop down on London Road here in Sheffield. Browning the sausage pieces in the sunflower oil first with garlic and bay leaves made the kitchen smell amazing. A quick 10 minutes with the lid on and the meat was completely cooked through.
Herh, the crushed chillies with the Aromat give the boerewors a very nice heat oo! Only thing is my chakalaka was already quite salty so I had to be careful with adding extra salt on top of the barbecue spice. Very quick meal chale, did the whole thing in under 20 minutes in one pan.
Abeg make sure you get proper halal beef or lamb boerewors o, had to search two African markets here in the Twin Cities before I found a good batch. Added extra crushed chillies and garlic because we like heat. E sweet sha! Reminded me so much of my South African neighbor's cooking.
The spice combination of Aromat, barbecue spice and extra salt was just way too salty paa. Boerewors already has so much seasoning inside it chale. Next time I will skip the added salt completely and just rely on the crushed garlic and bay leaves while it cooks covered in the pan.