Once a year, my husband gets roped into doing a fund-raising braai for his rowing club. Not that he needs much persuasion to braai, you understand, but this braai is usually more work than fun. You see, as soon as word gets out that Nick will be wielding the tongs, the guests just start rolling in and the tickets sell out like hotcakes. You could say that Nick has acquired something of a reputation amongst his Pom friends as The Braaimeister.
Of course, such title does not come without responsibility. You can’t just chuck some lamb chops on the braai and hope for the best – oh no, you need to produce something show-stopping every year. In this way, he has treated the rowers to his famous stuffed beef fillet, chicken sundowners (wings stretched out and then skewered along their length, marinaded and braaied), and whole chickens with a curried apple stuffing. Most recently, he decided to go for boerie rolls, but he couldn’t bring himself just to serve boerie in rolls with a bottle of tomato sauce on the side. No, he had to spice things up a little: he has a reputation to protect 
The idea he hit upon for this purpose was chakalaka.
Now chakalaka is an odd creature in terms of parentage, not to mention etymology – I can find no info on that score. (The closest I have come is finding a recipe for chakcuaca which is apparently a Tunisian “warm salad” containing garlic, onions, peppers and tomatoes.) There is definitely an middle-Eastern influence in that curry, ginger and chiles are essential ingredients – in this sense it has a lot in common with sambals and chutneys. However, it is also likely that chakalaka was a favourite of (predominantly black) workers on the mines around Johannesburg, who added their own twist by making tinned baked beans a regular addition to the recipe (it made for a quick, cheap and nourishing meal). The mineworkers belonged to many of the various tribes of Southern Africa (Shona, Venda, Zulu, Sotho and Xhosa, to name but a few) and when they went on home to their far-flung villages, they would take this new Big City chakalaka recipe with them, thus establishing it as a firm favourite throughout the country.
Don’t think for a minute, though, that there is agreement on what goes into the dish, how it should be served, or as what it should be classified (Brian from Kitsch ‘n Zinc has a great post about the debate). Suffice to say that the basic ingredients always include onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, chillies and curry powder (and almost always baked beans and grated carrot). However, other recipes may include fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, chunks of cauliflower or sliced courgettes (making it more of an atchar). The bottom line is that you can play around rather a lot with the recipe, depending on what’s in your cupboard and vegetable rack, and that’s always a good thing in my book. As for serving, it can be served hot or cold, depending on whether you are using it as a relish or a more integral part of the meal. Which brings me neatly to the last dilemma – its classification. It has variously been called a soup, a vegetable side dish, a relish, a salad, a ketchup, or an integral part of the main meal (and plenty more besides!). It can be served on its own, with a meat stew, on bread, on potatoes, on rice, on boiled samp (crushed dried maize), on a stiff polenta-like porridge, or (as we did) as a relish on boerewors rolls on the banks of the Thames with a couple of good friends
It is possible to buy tinned chakalaka in every supermarket in South Africa (All Gold makes both a mild ‘n spicy and a hot version; and Koo makes mild, spicy and extra hot variations as well as extra hot with beans, one with butternut squash and one with sweetcorn), and almost all South African shops around the world. But Nick decided to go the artisanal route (!) and make his own from scratch. I have no idea what recipe he used – he cobbled something together from various sources on the net, so the recipe I have used below is Brian‘s. Nick’s version called for baked beans and grated carrot, but not for “extra” vegetables like courgettes, cauliflower or coriander. He also went quite easy on the chiles and the curry powder, both to spare my palate and so as not to frighten the paying guests, but you can crank up the heat as much as you like by playing with the amount and type of both. I had never been a fan of chakalaka, fearing its legendary curry-chile punch but I have to say that what Nick created was rather heavenly – tasting of fresh, zingy ingredients and looking colourful and enticing. It was perfect as a relish on the boerie rolls and despite our hopes that we would get to take home some of the chakalaka for ourselves, the whole pot was polished off in no time at all.
It’s a bit fiddly to make, so rather make lots (we made a double batch) and freeze what you don’t use. The flavours improve if it is kept in the fridge overnight and reheated, and then you can use it on almost anything – a sauce for fish fillets; a dip with pita bread; a relish with cold meats and cheese; mixed with chunks of butternut, courgette and broccolli and baked with some cheese on top; on couscous; on baked potatoes; or as a stuffing for either butternut or bell peppers. A rainbow of possibilities.
CHAKALAKA (8-10 servings – more if used only as a sauce/relish)
Ingredients
250 ml canola oil
30 g fresh chopped ginger
30 g fresh chopped garlic
20 g chopped chiles (choose your type according to how much heat you like!)
200 g chopped onion
500 g tomatoes roughly chopped
100 g green pepper roughly chopped
100 g red pepper roughly chopped
20 – 50 g leaf masala (or curry powder of your choice)
200 g grated carrot
450 g tinned baked beans, undrained
10 g fresh chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
Method
Fry ginger,garlic,chillis,onions in the oil. Add the curry powder of your choice and mix. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 mins. Add peppers and carrots and cook for 10 minutes. Add baked beans and cook until the mixture reduces and thickens slightly. You can get away with cooking for only 5-10 minutes at this stage, but the longer you simmer it, the more complex and melded the flavours will be. Remove from heat and add coriander. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
A version of this post has also appeared on my blog, CookSister!
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