You might remember from a previous post where I prepared a springbok potjie. Today is also a potjie recipe but it is very easy. What I would like to convey in addition to the meal recipe is an event "recipe". The event in this case is a potjie event.
As with most of my posts this begins with a little rant. I remember my mom going through a lot of effort and stress preparing for the arrival of guests for a meal and/or stay over. Once the guest arrived the entire time would be lots of fun and some of my best memories are from those occasions. In a way it feeds the notion great reward comes with hard work. I recently witnessed this "pre-event stress" and this time tried to argue that all this effort was unnecessary. The general reply was "what would people think off me". This response is also a core problem with people hitting the gym and starving themselves trying to look "good" based on what people "expect", another rant for another time......the vanity effect.
The point I was making is that generally people visit because they want to experience your company, robust debate, catch up, plan, partake in good fortune (baby, wedding), just have fun etc. You as a person or couple or family already bring the main ingredients of a good time, the snacks or meal which causes the major amount of stress is not even discussed or there is a passing comment, "compliments to the chef" which takes all of 1% of the total face to face/event time. These points can be debated but essentially life is too short to sweat the little stuff. Question, " How many people rave about the meat/salad/décor at a braai/barbeque?"..........huh?............I hope my point is made!
Potjie Event Recipe
- Rule 1: Decide on the fly what to place in the potjie and buy those raw ingredients beforehand eg: beef, carrots, oil, potatoes, chicken etc (Marco-ingredients)
- Rule 2: Start fire when guests arrive. I have attached some pictures below on how I start a fire, its clean and takes advantage of the fire's abilities to spread (bush veld fires is an example, little human intervention), this takes about 1 to 1.5 hrs before the heat is raging.
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| Step 1: Place charcoal (not briquettes) into braai, place blitz on charcoal (I used a old potjie as my braai stand) |
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| Step 2: Light blitz |
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| Step 3: Let blitz burn out |
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| Step 4: Place potjie on heat source (The fire will spread over time on its own) |
- Rule 3: Prepare Potjie with guests (Refer to recipe below)
- Rule 4: Insert Potjie onto fire (weather raging or not)
- Rule 5: Decide on drinks and/or snacks and go pick it up (Generally I offer, cold water, biltong (Jerky) and nuts, normal snacks I have at home)
- Rule 6: Sit around and chat, throw a ball (of any shape) with the kids/ friends, jump in the pool or whatever the guests came over for, look at the baby, wedding photos, movies (Lord of the rings marathon with Potjie.....what an idea!!)
- Rule 7: Do not disturb potjie until about 3 to 4 hours in, and check if it ready.
- Rule 8:Dish, Eat, continue conversation and have fun.
- Rule 9: Keep dishes to a minimum, hence I enjoy disposable plates and eat with my hands
I know I call them "RULES" they are more suggestions but this process combines the prep and guest visit into one. Also the other plus side is that your guests do not feel inadequate (Unless they are soulless mother fathers) because of your pre-event prep. It is just loads of fun. On to the recipe!
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp ginger
4 Tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3 cardamom
1 stick cinnamon
1-2kg beef
2 onion
2 tomatoes
4 sprigs tyme and rosemary
Green beans and carrot (This is your choice and depended on space in potjie)
Sprinkle of salt for end
Method:
Liquidise garlic, ginger, 1 Tbsp coconut oil, salt, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon
Marinate beef in paste from above step
Insert 3 Tbsp coconut oil into pot
Insert onions cut into blocks
Insert beef
Liquidise and insert tomatoes
Tie rosemary and type into bunch and insert into pot
Place green beans and carrots
Sprinkle salt at the end
NB: The prep is layered and to not disturb the potjie with spoon in the middle of the cooking time
Cover and place potjie onto fire
Cook for 2-4 hours depending on potjie depth and intensity of fire
Dish and enjoy!
