A simple and delicious seafood stew made in a cast iron pot on the braai.
Serves 4 Preparation time - 40 mins Cooking time - 30 mins
A potjiekos/ˈpɔɪkiːkɒs/, literally translated "small-pot food", is a dish prepared outdoors. It is traditionally cooked in a round, cast iron, three-legged pot, the potjie, descended from the Dutch oven brought from the Netherlands to South Africa in the 17th century.
I love making a potjie. I think it's the ultimate form of outdoor cooking and makes me feel like I'm travelling back in time when this was how a lot of South Africans cooked. You can take a whole day over a potjie but I thought I'd start with a less time consuming seafood recipe to christen this beautiful potjie that my family gave me for my birthday this year.
Ingredients
4 tbsp cooking oil
1 chopped onion
6 large tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
1 tbsp mild curry powder
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp rich tomato paste
1 bay leave
500ml dry white wine
300g of squid, sliced into rings
300g of shelled raw prawns
1 large cod fillet (or other firm white fish), cubed into 2cm pieces
1 bunch of chopped flat leaf parsley
100ml of single cream
350g of rice
The braai things
A potjie pot
Charcoal or firewood (or both)
Some firelighters
A safe place to make your fire so that you can place the pot over the coals. This could be in a fire pit, or you can literally make your fire on the ground (just do this in a safe spot)
Prepare your fire. The key thing to get right is the temperature of the coals. You should be looking to cook over a medium heat so allow your coals to fully form. When they are ready place the potjie pot over the coals and heat it up. If you think it's too hot spread the coals out a little under the potjie pot. If you need to increase the heat pack the coals closer together and/or add 1-2 more charcoal briquettes to the rest of the coals.
Take it slow while cooking the seafood potjie. It needs time - potjiekos shouldn't be rushed.
Method
Heat the cooking oil and then cook the onions for 5-6 mins until they soften.
Then add the tomato paste, garlic and curry power and cook for further 2 mins.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for another 2-3 mins. Then add the bay leaf and the white white and reduce the base by about one-third.
While your base is reducing you can prepare your rice (I do this inside in the normal way).
Once reduced, add the cod and the squid and cook for 6-7 mins. Then add the prawns and cook until they turn pink, and the cod easily flakes away. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the cream to the pot and heat through. Then add in the chopped parsley, and serve with the rice.
Potjiekos makes perfect bowl food and this seafood edition will go well with a dry white wine to cut through the creamy stew. Enjoy this little pot of scrumpy seafood stew as much as you enjoy the age-old ritual of preparing it. Oh, and if you did make your fire on the ground, do make sure that you've put it out properly!
Eat. Love. Braai
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