Two mouth-watering braai recipes to impress your guests

SOUTH Africans don’t need an excuse to have a good braai, but the Zululand Observer is going to give you one anyway – in the form of two must-have recipes to blow your guests away.

Blow your Braai Day guests away tomorrow with these impressive mains and sides courtesy of Jan Braai.

Lamb curry sosaties
Sjoe, lamb curry sosaties sounds good, right? Here’s how to make them according to Jan Braai.
What you need
• 2 kg lamb, deboned and cubed (at a stretch, the marinade will be enough for 2,5 kg meat)
• 2 tots oil or butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed peeled and grated ginger (equal in volume to the garlic)
• 2 tots curry powder
• ½ tot turmeric
• 2 cups brown vinegar
• 450 g tin smooth apricot jam
• ½ tot salt
• 4 to 8 fresh bay leaves, torn
• dried apricots and pieces of onion and peppers (optional)
• 10 skewers
• closed, hinged grid

Method
Marinade:
Fry the onions in oil for about four minutes until soft and golden but not brown. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder and turmeric, and fry for another two minutes. Stir in the vinegar, jam and salt and heat until boiling. Remove from the heat and let the marinade cool down to room temperature. This takes a few hours so get this done early in the day.
While you wait for the marinade, debone the lamb and remove all silver skin and sinews. Then cut the meat into cubes of about 3×3 cm, but remember this is not an exact science. You can also ask your butcher to prepare the meat in this manner. Place the meat into a marinating bowl, add the torn bay leaves and pour the cooled-down marinade over the meat. Toss thoroughly and make sure you coat all the meat. Cover and marinate for at least 12 hours, but two or three days is better. Stir the meat every eight to 12 hours.
Skewer the meat while the fire is burning. If you like, you can also add dried apricots and pieces of onion and peppers between the meat cubes when you are skewering. Braai for about 10 minutes over hot coals, turning a few times. The easiest way to do this is to clamp all the sosaties in a closed, hinged grid.
Recipe by Jan Braai 

Shisha Nyama DIY
Impress your friends and family with your ekasi-style braai skills.
It’s really simple – mix your favourite braai spice with some oil and slap it on your favourite cut of meat.
Then get a hot fire going, and braai as normal.
What really makes a good shisha nyama is the sides, and we have picked our favourite (and most predominantly South African one) – spicy chakalaka.
What you need
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 of each red, yellow and green peppers, diced
• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp smoked chilli flakes
• 2 tsp sugar for the egg whites
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method
1. In a large saucepan, saute the onion in olive oil until soft and translucent.
2. Add the garlic and peppers and saute for a further 5 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, paprika, chilli flakes and sugar then turn down the heat and allow to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft but still holding their shape.
4. Season to taste then serve.