Chakalaka (South African Spicy Vegetable and Bean Relish)

Method

1. Prep everything first. Finely chop the onion, finely chop or grate the garlic and ginger, and seed and chop the chilli (keep the seeds if you like it hot). Cut the pepper into 1 cm pieces, coarsely grate the carrots and chop the tomatoes. Once you start cooking it moves fast, so have it all ready.

2. Heat the oil in a 24 cm pan on medium heat, add the onion and fry for 5 min, until soft and translucent.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil 1½ tbspOnion 1

   medium heat

3. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli and curry powder and fry on medium heat for 1 min, until fragrant. Keep stirring: scorched spice turns bitter.

   Add in this stepGarlic cloves 2Fresh ginger 10 gGreen chilli 1Medium curry powder 2 tsp

   medium heat

4. Add the pepper and carrot and fry on medium heat for 6 min, until the carrot has softened but still has a slight bite.

   Add in this stepGreen or red pepper 1Medium carrots 2

   medium heat

5. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar and cook on medium heat for 5 min, until the tomatoes break down into a sauce. Add a splash of water if it catches.

   Add in this stepMedium tomatoes 2Salt ¾ tspSugar ½ tsp

   medium heat

6. Stir in the baked beans with their sauce, lower to medium-low heat and simmer gently for 5 min. Season with black pepper and more salt to taste. Serve hot or at room temperature with pap (maize porridge), grilled meat or bread.

   Add in this stepBaked beans in tomato sauce (canned) 200 gBlack pepper to taste

   medium-low heat