Here's what you'll need: beef, lamb or mutton stewing meat such as shoulder, oil, butter, salt, black pepper, onions, ripe red tomatoes, small can tomato paste, sugar, mild chili powder, paprika, garlic, mixed herbs, beef stock, potatoes and a little flour.
Start by cubing all your meat. I used half beef stewing meat and half lamb shoulder.
There's just no way to make chunks of raw meat look good, I'm sorry.
Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan and brown the meat in batches. You want to keep the batches fairly small to prevent overcrowding in the pan. Transfer the meat to a plate as you go (or if you're using a crockpot, put it straight in there). Season the meat with salt and pepper. Pour a little of the stock into the pan and let it sizzle up to deglaze it - releasing all of the cooked-on brown bits. Pour into the crockpot too.
Next, you'll want to chop up your onion.
And fry it in a little oil in the pan until nicely browned.
Chuck the onions onto the meat.
Now peel your tomatoes. The easiest way to do it is like this: use a sharp knife to score a cross at the top and bottom of each tomato.
Then throw them into a bowl of boiling water for about 30-40 seconds.
See, the skins start to peel off!
They slip off nicely.
Chop up the tomatoes. I guess you could save yourself the trouble and just use a can of chopped tomatoes.
Put the tomatoes in with the meat and add the tomato paste, sugar, chili, paprika, crushed garlic, herbs, and stock.
Mix it all together. If you're doing this on the stove, simmer for almost 3 hours until the meat is tender. I much prefer to use the crockpot on low all day.
Peel and cube your potatoes. You'll chuck them into the bredie after two hours, and then simmer for another 40 minutes if doing it on the stove, or about halfway through the day if doing it in the crockpot. Towards the end of cooking, thicken the bredie with a little flour.
Mmm, a delicious, rich stew, with tender chunks of meat that just fall apart! Look at the beautiful rich colours when it's served with the yellow rice.
Copy and paste for a printable recipe:
TAMATIEBREDIE
2 pounds beef, lamb or mutton shoulder (mix it up if you like)
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 onions - chopped
6 ripe red tomatoes - peeled and chopped
1 small can tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon paprika
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
1 ½ cups beef stock
3 potatoes - peeled and diced
1 tablespoon flour
Cube the meat. Heat the oil / butter mixture in a big, heavy-bottomed saucepan until the butter discolors. Add the meat in batches and stir-fry until brown. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Pour a little of the stock into the pan and let it sizzle up to deglaze it - releasing all of the cooked-on brown bits. Pour over the meat. Season the browned meat with salt and pepper.
Brown the onions in the remaining oil. When golden, soft and glazed, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, chili, paprika, garlic, herbs, water and stock cube. Bring to a slow simmering boil.
Add the prepared meat. Simmer the bredie very slowly for 2 hours. Add the cubed potatoes and continue simmering for another 40 minutes . Thicken the gravy with a little potato flour mixed with water.
Make ahead: You can make the whole thing ahead if you want and reheat on the day. I didn't, as I knew I'd just be throwing it into the crockpot on the day of the party. All I did the day before was cube the meat and store it, covered in the refrigerator and chope the onions and refrigerated them in a ziplock bag. I also mixed the other ingredients (except the stock) in a dish in the fridge.
To serve at dinner party: I served this buffet-style on my kitchen counter, together with the Yellow Rice and Bobotie and fresh steamed carrots and broccoli, so my guests could help themselves and return to the table to eat.
