Katemba Pot and Elgin Vintners Syrah for a Heart-Warming Father’s Day

Elgin Vintners national sales manager Donnie Claassen is well-known for his love of both braai and wine, and he’s taking inspiration from Jan Braai, our national guru on all things fire-cooked, to create a monthly recipe paired with an Elgin Vintners wine. In honour of Father’s Day, this month he serves up a hearty, beefy potjie featuring the weird but popular – and delicious – combo of Coke and wine, known across Southern Africa as Katemba.

Ingredients:

25 ml olive oil

1,5 kg deboned chuck steak, cut in 3cm chunks

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

25 ml paprika

1 t chilli powder

1 t salt

1 t black pepper

2 tomatoes

25 ml tomato paste

1 cup (250 ml) Coke

1 cup (250 ml) Elgin Vintners Syrah

Fresh bread

250 ml sour cream Freshly chopped herbs such as basil, parsley, rocket or coriander for garnish

Method:

1. Heat the oil in the potjie (or Dutch oven) over hot coals and brown the meat for a minute or two, just to seal off the juices. Be careful not to overfill the pot, or the meat will not brown properly. Rather fry in batches. When nicely browned, remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
2. Fry the onion for about 4 minutes in the pot with the meat juices and oil until they become translucent. Add the garlic and fry. Add more oil or butter if desired.
3. Once the onion and garlic are soft, add the meat back into the pot and add the paprika, chilli powder, salt and pepper. Ensure the meat is properly coated with all the seasoning.
4. Next, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, Coke and Syrah and stir well. Put the lid on and simmer over low heat. If your coals are too hot, scrape some of them aside – you don’t want your pot to boil and low heat is preferred. Ideally the pot should simmer for approximately 1 hour.
5. Once the meat is cooked through and all the flavours are well-combined, remove the lid and let some of the liquid reduce to thicken the sauce. This can take up to 30 minutes, or shorter, depending on the heat of your coals.
6. Once you are satisfied with the consistency and flavour of your sauce, remove it from the heat and set aside.
7. Drizzle some sour cream on top of each individual serving or mix the container of sour cream into the pot before serving – the choice is yours! Garnish with fresh herbs, which will complement the flavour of the Syrah well.
8. Serve with chunks of fresh bread (or grill them over the fire).