New Year’s lunch recipes inspired by indigenous ingredients

Say goodbye to the old year and usher in the new by marking the occasion with a distinctive New Year’s lunch that pays homage to the richness of indigenous foods.

Food For Mzansi asked a few chefs to share some of their favourite indigenous-inspired recipes. Let’s enjoy the flavours of our heritage and support our local food traditions as we start the new year.

Below, you’ll find a full indigenous-inspired menu, spanning from starters to desserts, offering delightful ways to embrace indigenous foods.

Starters by Chef Sne

Chef Sne Moloi from Durban, whose passion lies in advocating sustainability and its eating practices with an indigenous flair, highlights amadumbe (taro roots) as her all-time favourite indigenous dish.

“Amadumbe reminds me of my late grandmother. She would purchase them from female vendors in the township of (omama elokishini), shouting madumbe, a tradition I still keep. She would apply different cooking methods—boil, fry, or add them to one of her delicious curries, replacing potatoes. Since then, I have modernised her recipe and crumbed them, served with a pesto dip,” she says.

“The recipe I’m sharing uses the same ingredient and has the same function for different applications: imfino or maranth, compound butter (used to flavour meat, poultry, seafood, and roasted veggies).”

Amaranth compound butter

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

2 cups imfino
Cup coriander
Garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
500g butter, unsalted

Method:

Allow the butter to soften at room temperature.
In a bowl, add butter and fold in the rest of the ingredients, ensuring everything is well combined and forms a spread.
Decant onto wax paper, spread butter, and start rolling, forming a log.
Tighten the log with cling wrap, freeze it so it can solidify, and use it for flavouring.

ALSO READ: Faces of Summer: Toast to new beginnings with M’hudi Wines

Main course by Chef Tivi

According to the founder of Tivi’s Kitchen, Chef Tivi, her favourite New Year’s dish is lamb leg and survey rice. She says it’s special for her because it’s usually only afforded or eaten on special occasions.

“As Christmas is a special day that comes once a year, we can make it special by cooking food that we don’t usually eat every day. So I’d recommend lamb leg or roasted chicken with potato wedges and spinach or Greek salad.”

Leg of lamb with potatoes

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cook: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Total time: 2 hours, 5 minutes

Serving: 4-8

Ingredients:

5 kg of lamb, trimmed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line the roasting pan with aluminium foil.
Using a paper towel, pat the lamb dry using a sharp knife. Score the top side of the lamb by making shallow cuts in a diamond pattern.
In a small bowl, combine garlic, olive oil, rosemary, thyme, dijon, salt, and pepper.
Place the lamb fat side on a rack in the prepared roasting pan and spread the garlic mixture evenly over the lamb, dubbing it thoroughly into the scored cuts.
Place in the oven and roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees for medium, about 1 hour.

ALSO READ: Faces of Summer: Capture the African essence with Moedi Wines

Dessert by Chef Nonku

Cook Nonkuleko Zwane from Osizweni in KwaZulu-Natal shares that her favourite New Year dish is just a simple roasted chicken with crispy fried potatoes, some hot pap, and that cheesy, cauliflower, and broccoli salad.

For this New Year’s lunch, I’d recommend roasting her butter turkey, sweet and russet potatoes, some gravy, sausage cornbread stuffing, and roasted winter veggies, with tart squares as your dessert.

Tart Squares Dessert

Serves 9

Hands-on time: 30 minutes

Hands-off time: Overnight

Ingredients:

2½ cups cream
3 packs (150g each) of Beacon marshmallows, vanilla custard mallows
1 pack (200 g) of coconut biscuits
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Serving suggestion:

Rooibos with a splash of milk
Microwave cooking times may vary due to wattage; use the timings below as a guide.

Method:

Neatly line a square baking dish (20cm) with tinfoil, ensuring the foil is pressed into the corners and hangs over the sides.
To a large heatproof bowl, add ½ cup of cream, ½ cup of water, and the Beacon mmmMallows Vanilla Custard Mallows. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring regularly, until the Beacon mmmMallows Vanilla Custard Mallows have melted and the consistency is smooth.
Place plastic wrap directly on the custard in the bowl to prevent a skin from forming, and allow it to cool in the fridge to thicken slightly for about 30 minutes.
Using an electric hand mixer, whip the remaining 2 cups of cream and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for 2-3 minutes to form stiff peaks. Chef’s Tip: Whisk by hand if preferred!
Gently fold the whipped cinnamon cream into the cooled marshmallow mixture.
Line the bottom of the lined dish with an even layer of coconut biscuits.
Pour the marshmallow mixture over the biscuit base and smooth out the top with the back of a spoon.
Place another layer of biscuits on top, ensuring they align with the bottom layer of biscuits. Refrigerate for 4-5 hours or overnight until set.
Using a small sieve, dust 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over the tart.
Cut the tart along the biscuit lines into squares. Serve with a cup of milky rooibos tea and enjoy!