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Braai recipe of the week

Boerewors rolls with quick chakalaka

The national match-day meal. A coil of wors, a soft roll and a spicy relish that tastes like Saturday.

Serves 6 to 8

If you only learn one braai, learn this one. It feeds a pub table, it survives the rain, and nobody has ever complained about a wors roll at half-time. The chakalaka (a spicy veg-and-bean relish, Mzansi’s gift to the condiment world) is made on the hob, so you can do it the night before and look like a legend on the day.

  • Serves 6 to 8
  • Prep 20 minutes
  • Cook about 35 minutes (plus 30 to 40 minutes for the coals)

You’ll need

For the wors rolls

  • 1 kg boerewors (from a South African shop or an online SA butcher; in an emergency, a coarse beef-and-pork butcher’s sausage with plenty of coriander will do, but don’t tell your oupa)
  • 8 soft finger or hot dog rolls
  • A little butter for the rolls
  • Optional: fried onions, Mrs Ball’s chutney, mustard or tomato sauce

For the quick chakalaka

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
  • 2 tsp mild curry powder (more if you’re brave)
  • 1 fresh red chilli, chopped (optional)
  • 2 carrots, coarsely grated
  • 1 x 400 g tin baked beans
  • 200 g chopped tomatoes (half a 400 g tin)
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Light the coals. Fill a chimney starter with charcoal or briquettes and give it 30 to 40 minutes in cold, windy weather, until the coals are covered in grey ash and the flames have gone. Spread them for medium heat: you should manage the hand test for four to five seconds at grid height.
  2. Make the chakalaka while you wait (or the night before). Heat the oil in a pan and soften the onion for 5 minutes. Add both peppers for another 5 minutes, then the garlic, ginger, curry powder and chilli for 1 minute until it smells lekker. Stir in the carrots for 2 minutes, then the beans and tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes until thick, and season. If you made it ahead, cool it and get it in the fridge within 2 hours, then reheat until it’s steaming hot all the way through.
  3. Keep the wors in one proud coil. Push two long skewers through it in a cross so you can flip it in one go, or use a hinged braai grid. Do not prick it, ever. Those are the juices you’re keeping.
  4. Braai over medium coals for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 4 to 5 minutes, until it’s browned and the thickest part reads 75°C on a probe (or 70°C held for 2 minutes), with clear juices and no pink. If it flares up, move it to the edge of the coals rather than spraying it with your beer.
  5. Rest the wors for 3 minutes on a clean plate (not the one the raw wors was on), then cut it into roll-length pieces.
  6. Split and butter the rolls, toast them cut side down on the grid for 30 to 60 seconds, and build: wors in, a big spoon of hot chakalaka on top, fried onions and chutney if you like. Eat immediately, ideally while shouting at the TV.

Food safety, the boring-but-vital bit

Keep raw wors in the fridge until you’re ready to cook, use separate tongs and plates for raw and cooked, and get leftovers into the fridge within 2 hours. Eat them within 2 days and reheat only once, until steaming hot.

Goes with: A cold lager or a ginger beer, and the Bok Barometer open on your phone so you can argue about the bench between bites.

Published 15 October 2026 as part of that week’s Jokes & Braai. Back to all the jokes and recipes. Temperatures follow UK Food Standards Agency guidance.

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