Waterblommetjiebredie Recipe Van die Boland

If you had the privilege of growing up in the Cape Province, you definitely would have heard of waterblommetjies and tasted it. For you that don’t know, waterblommetjiebredie is a stew made with water flowers.

Waterblommetjies is commonly known as Cape pondweed, Cape hawthorn or Cape asparagus which are found in the dams and marshes of the Western Cape here in South Africa. The buds are usually ready to be picked in the southern midwinter months of July and August, leading to their use in winter for stews.

Water Flower Stew

Ingredients:

 2 x 500g Bags of waterblommetjies

 25 ml Cooking oil

 2 Coarsely chopped onions

 1½kg Lamb

 Salt

 Pepper

 Barbecue spice

 About 200ml boiling water

 6 Potatoes, quartered

Method:

Put the flowers in a large bowl of water. Inspect each flower to make sure there are no hidden tadpoles. Rinse properly. Replace water with clean fresh water to which two tablespoons of salt is added. Stir in salt until disolved. Let stand for an hour. Rinse flowers with fresh water.

Heat a cast iron or heavy based pot on the stove at medium heat and add the oil.

Chop 2 onions coarsely and sauté in pot until translucent. Remove from the pot. Turn the heat on high

Garnish meat with salt, pepper, and barbecue spice. Sauté meat lightly. Add 200ml water and fried onions. Stir. and simmer until meat is almost tender.

Cut potatoes into quarters and place in the pot. Cook further for about 20 minutes.

Add the flowers to pot. Do not stir Put lid on and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. The flowers are perfectly cooked and they have retained their shape, if you can easily halve them with a knife, they are perfectly cooked. Be careful not to cook them too long as they will go soft and you will have a watery stew.

When ready to serve, add salt and pepper if needed, serve on fluffy white rice and beetroot or salad of your choice.

Serves 6 people.

Enjoy / Eet Lekker

#stew #lamb #waterblommetjie