Chakalaka

Ingredients

Relish

• 3 tbspoil
• 2onions, sliced
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 1green pepper, diced
• 1red pepper, diced
• 4carrots, coarsely grated
• 1hot chilli, minced
• 2 tbspmild curry powder
• 1 tsppaprika
• 1 tspdried thyme
• 400 gtinned tomatoes
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 400 gtinned baked beans in tomato sauce
• salt, sugar and black pepper

To serve

• braai meat
• pap or sishwala
• bread

Directions

1. Fry the onions in the oil over a medium heat for about 8 minutes, until soft and just beginning to colour.
2. Add the garlic, both peppers and the chilli and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. Add the curry powder, paprika and thyme and fry for one minute, stirring, so the spices bloom in the oil rather than sitting raw in the finished sauce.
4. Add the grated carrot and cook for 3 minutes only.
5. The carrot has to keep some crunch. Chakalaka is a relish with texture rather than a stew, and carrot cooked soft takes the whole thing down to mush.
6. Stir in the tinned tomatoes and the tomato paste and simmer for 10 minutes, until thickened and no longer watery.
7. Fold in the baked beans along with their sauce and heat through for 3 minutes, stirring gently so they do not break up.
8. Tinned baked beans are the standard ingredient here rather than a shortcut, and their sweet tomato sauce is a deliberate part of the balance.
9. Season with salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar, then take it off the heat and let it cool.
10. Serve at room temperature or cold, beside braai meat, with pap or sishwala, or simply with bread.
11. It is better the following day, once the curry powder has settled properly into the vegetables.

Technique

• Serve it cool. Hot chakalaka tastes like an unfinished stew; cooled, it works as the sharp relish it is meant to be.
• It crossed into Eswatini from South African townships and is now standard beside braai meat on both sides of the border.
• Every household has its own heat level, and the chilli is the one quantity nobody agrees on.

Substitutions

• Cannellini beans in a light tomato sauce with a pinch of sugar, if baked beans feel wrong.
• Any mild curry powder, adjusting for how hot yours is.

Variations

• With shredded cabbage added along with the carrot.
• Made much hotter, with several chillies.
• Cooked down smooth, which some households prefer and others consider a mistake.

History

A spicy, chunky vegetable relish built on tomato, onion, pepper and often baked beans, developed in South African townships during the apartheid era, generally credited to Black South African communities who created the dish as an inexpensive, flavourful way to make plain staple starches like pap more interesting, since access to meat and other proteins was often limited for Black South Africans under that era’s discriminatory economic policies. Its name is thought to derive from a Zulu or Sotho term connected to being spicy or hot, referencing the chili typically used in the relish. Chakalaka spread from South Africa to become popular across several neighboring Southern African countries, including Eswatini and Lesotho, typically served alongside pap, meat or bread rather than eaten as a standalone dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chakalaka?

Chakalaka is a salad & side from Eswatini: spicy relish of grated carrot, beans, onion and curry powder. A spicy, chunky vegetable relish built on tomato, onion, pepper and often baked beans, developed in South African townships during the apartheid era, generally credited to Black South African communities who created the dish as an inexpensive, flavourful way to make plain staple starches like pap more interesting, since access to meat and other proteins was often limited for Black South Africans under that era’s discriminatory economic policies. Its name is thought to derive from a Zulu or Sotho term connected to being spicy or hot, referencing the chili typically used in the relish. Chakalaka spread from South Africa to become popular across several neighboring Southern African countries, including Eswatini and Lesotho, typically served alongside pap, meat or bread rather than eaten as a standalone dish.

How long does Chakalaka take to make?

Chakalaka takes 20 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Chakalaka?

Yes, within limits. Cannellini beans in a light tomato sauce with a pinch of sugar, if baked beans feel wrong. Any mild curry powder, adjusting for how hot yours is.

What is the most important thing to get right in Chakalaka?

Add the curry powder, paprika and thyme and fry for one minute, stirring, so the spices bloom in the oil rather than sitting raw in the finished sauce.