Usu served with pumpkin-stuffed dombolo, creamy spinach, and honey-glazed carrots
18 September
South African
Larcé and Jabu's main course.
Ingredients
Creamed spinach
2 onions
250 g unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves
200 g mushrooms
6 200g bags spinach
75 g fine parmesan cheese
500 ml fresh cream
1 tbsp Aromat
60 ml white sauce
Dombolo
5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 10g packets yeast
2 extra large eggs
2 tbsp oil
lukewarm water
milk for dabbing buns
Glazed carrots
18 baby carrots
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cinnamon
water
2 tbsp unsalted butter
salsa/shatini
1 tomato
1 onion
1 red chilli
1 yellow pepper
Pumpkin stuffing
500 g chopped pumpkin
3 onions
4 tbsp butter
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
Usu
5 kg usu
2 cubes beef stock
1 tbsp salt
2 onions
3 garlic cloves
6 star anise
1 green pepper, chopped
4 tbsp Cape Malay spice
1/2 punnet coriander
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp Masala spice
2 10g sachets tomato paste
2 410g cans coconut milk
1 ½ tbsp Aromat
4 punnets micro herbs
18 baby carrots
Instructions
Dombolo
- Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt) in a large bowl.
- In a cup mix egg, oil, and water and pour into your dry ingredients bowl. Mix until you get a rough dough, not smooth yet.
- Knead dough until the dough is smooth and flexible for about 10 minutes, rest dough for 20 minutes, cover with a dishcloth on a warm surface, then knead again for 3 minutes.
- Set aside the dough for another 20 minutes until it is smooth, silky, and elastic; if not, keep kneading.
- While the dough is resting, defrost and wash usu.
Usu
- Wash usu about 4 or 5 times until your water is clear.
- Once defrosted, cut your usu into pieces to help with cooking time.
- Place usu in a pressure cooker, adding the stock cubes, salt, and water. Allow to pressure cook for 2 hours
- Sauté your onions in cooking oil/olive oil – include garlic and ginger – for about 5 minutes. Add all the spices: paprika, masala, Cape Malay, coriander, and cinnamon with the tomato paste for about 5 minutes. Add water in between as desired.
- Put aside for another 5 minutes and allow for all spices to blend equally in your pan.
- Add usu to cooking sauce along with coconut milk and let it cook together on low heat for 20 minutes.
Pumpkin stuffing for dombolo
- To prepare the pumpkin cut it into cubes and boil in water, adding salt, butter, and cinnamon until soft. Mash the pumpkin and a small amount of sugar.
- Once satisfied with the dough, prepare for stuffing. Open one dough ball and stuff with pumpkin to make a perfect round shape yet pinching to close. Dust your surface with flour before you place each ball in a muffin tin. Make 26 perfect stuffed dombolo balls.
- Place each dombolo ball in a mould/cup and place in a large pot with boiling water for 30 minutes.
Creamy spinach
- Finely chop spinach.
- To prepare creamy spinach, sauté your onions and garlic in butter and add mushrooms until brown. Add Aromat to season.
- Throw your pre-cut spinach into the pan and pour fresh cream and parmesan cheese.
Glazed carrots
- To glaze your carrots, boil baby carrots until soft and tender. Once soft, add butter, and brown on low heat adding honey and cinnamon
- Chop all the shatini ingredients.