Gatsby

Ingredients

Bread

• 1foot-long white bread roll, soft crusted

Masala steak

• 600 gbeef rump or sirloin, sliced thin
• 2 tbspmasala curry powder
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1/2 tspturmeric
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbspgrated ginger
• 2 tbsplemon juice
• 2 tbspoil
• 1onion, sliced
• 1tomato, chopped
• salt

Chips

• 4large floury potatoes
• 1 litrefrying oil
• salt

To build

• 4 tbspmixed achar or mango atchar
• shredded lettuce
• 4 tbspmayonnaise
• 2 tbsptomato sauce
• 1 tbsppiri-piri sauce, to taste

Directions

1. Slice the beef thinly across the grain into strips. Mix the masala powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and salt into a paste. Rub the paste through the beef strips with your hands. Cover it and refrigerate it for at least two hours, or overnight. Now the chips, which are as important as the meat and must be properly made.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thick chips about a centimetre square. Rinse them under cold water to wash off the surface starch. Dry them thoroughly on a cloth, since wet chips make the oil spit.
3. Heat the oil to 140C for the first fry. Fry the chips in batches for about six minutes, until soft but still pale. Lift them onto a rack and let them cool for at least ten minutes. Fry them again for three minutes until deep golden and crisp.
4. Salt them immediately and keep them hot. The chips go into the roll hot and crisp, since they will soften from the sauce anyway. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Add the sliced onion and fry it hard for three minutes until it takes colour.
5. Add the marinated beef and spread it out in the pan. Let it sit for a minute before stirring, so it browns rather than steams. Fry it for four or five minutes total, until cooked through.
6. Add the chopped tomato and cook it for two minutes until it breaks down. The mixture should be moist and clinging, not swimming in liquid. Taste it and add salt, and more masala if it is tasting flat. Now building the gatsby, which is done in a fixed order.
7. Spread mayonnaise across the bottom half from end to end. Spoon the achar along the bottom half over the mayonnaise. Lay the shredded lettuce over the achar in a thin layer. Pile the hot chips in next, filling the roll generously along its length.
8. Spoon the masala steak and its sauce over the chips. Squeeze tomato sauce and piri-piri over the top in lines. Press the top half of the roll down firmly to compress the whole thing. Cut the roll straight across into four equal pieces. Wrap each quarter in paper so it can be held without falling apart. Serve it immediately, since the chips soften fast under the sauce.

Technique

• Fry the chips twice, at 140C then 190C, so they hold up under the sauce.
• Cut the finished roll into quarters, since a gatsby is built to be shared.
• Achar is structural, not a garnish, and cuts the richness of chips and meat.

Substitutions

• Any hot filling: polony, fish, calamari or Vienna sausage are all standard.
• A long soft baguette if a proper foot-long roll is unavailable.

Variations

• Gatsby polony, the cheapest and most common version.
• Gatsby calamari, popular in the Cape Town versions.
• Vegetarian, with chips, achar and egg only.

History

Created in 1976 at Super Fisheries in Athlone, Cape Town, when Rashaad Pandy fed his workers a long roll of chips and fish, named for the film.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gatsby?

Gatsby is a street food from South Africa: cape Town foot-long roll crammed with chips and masala steak. Created in 1976 at Super Fisheries in Athlone, Cape Town, when Rashaad Pandy fed his workers a long roll of chips and fish, named for the film.

How long does Gatsby take to make?

Gatsby takes 30 min plus 2 hours marinating of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 gatsby, serving 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Gatsby?

Yes, within limits. Any hot filling: polony, fish, calamari or Vienna sausage are all standard. A long soft baguette if a proper foot-long roll is unavailable.

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

Slice the beef thinly across the grain into strips. Mix the masala powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and salt into a paste. Rub the paste through the beef strips with your hands. Cover it and refrigerate it for at least two hours, or overnight. Now the chips, which are as important as the meat and must be properly made.