Filed under: Dress-uppers, Sauces, You say Tomatoes | Tags: free state food, krummelpap, tamatie smoor
+ Onion
This is a very Afrikaans, very versatile, very very good sauce that my father (being from the Free State) always makes with krummelpap (mealiemeal). Oh, but you can have it with sausages and mash, with grilled fish and with sandwiches! Just thinking about it honestly makes my mouth water. We cannot imagine krummelpap or our collection of home recipes without it.
To become part of this legend you need:
Two cans of chopped tomatoes
1 onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
How to go about it:
Step 1: Peel and cut the onion in rings.
Step 2: Put the butter and oil in a medium pan and let the butter melt over a low heat. Add the onion and sweat slowly for 8 minutes.
Step 3: Add the tomatoes and let it simmer for 15 minutes, the longer it goes on a very gentle heat, the more intense the flavour will be. Have fun!
But it really does taste good. Even though I did not have the precise ingredients for making a Nicoise Ratatouille, it did not stop me from making it. This is honestly how I made it. There is no pressure with this dish to eat it all at once, so you can make quite a big pot of it, eat it hot the first time, then store it in the fridge until needed later in that day or the day after. I cannot guarantee it will last long far from the mouth…
For about 6 cups you need:
One big aubergine (eggplant)
3 red Bell Peppers
2 onions (I used red ones)
One courgette (zucchini) – that is all we had, but you can add 5 more, that’s perfect
3 garlic cloves
One tsp chopped chilli
2 cans tomatoes
4 Rosa tomatoes (on their way out, meaning really ripe)
Some olive oil
2 tsp fresh herbs (basil stalks/origanum)
That’s it!
How to go about it:
Chop the aubergine into chunks roughly about 2,5 cm in diameter, put that in a colander and pour some salt over it and toss. Leave it to drain out all the bitter juices while you chop the onion (roughly 1cm ) and the garlic (very finely), chilli (very finely)and the pepper (thin strips), as well as the courgettes (rounds, a fancy name for that is Vichy). Using a biggish deep pan put about 3 T of oil in it and heat it up a bit. Add the onion and gently fry over a low heat for about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and then the pepper and chilli and herbs. Let that fry for another 5 minutes. Chop the fresh tomatoes and add that (all of it), the aubergine (salt washed off) and the courgette to the pan and cook slowly for 10 minutes.
It is now ready to eat, you can let it simmer slowly for another traditionally correct 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, but my brother and I ate it for breakfast at the last point described at 2 o’clock in the afternoon with scrambled eggs and toast. When my parents and sister came back for the weekend they had it as a snack on some buttered bread. You can’t go wrong.
One can chickpeas, drained
2 T tahini or plain yoghurt
A good pinch of salt and a 3 grinds of pepper
Olive oil
One pinch of smoked paprika, to garnish
Place the chickpeas, coriander, tahini or yoghurt, salt and pepper and one lug of oil into a food processor. Pulse while adding some more olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Stop when you have the right consistency – smooth and not to stiff, but it should be able to hold it’s from. Transfer to a bowl and garnish or use as a spread in a sandwich.
