Chefs: Nicholas Chenje, Head Chef at Afrolicious Restaurant, and Morola Fasina, Marketing and Communications Associate at McMaster’s Black Student Success Centre.

Dish: Chakalaka Grilled Cheese

Region: South Africa

Chakalaka is a traditional South African vegetable relish with baked beans, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. There are so many vibrant flavours in this dish and it can be eaten in a variety of different ways whether it be a side to some rice, or in a grilled cheese as we will see!

Chakalaka is often also enjoyed with Braai, South African Barbeque, in grilled cheese sandwiches called Braaibroodjies in Afrikaans. Growing up in a Nigerian household, Morola mentioned how familiar some ingredients like baked beans and the spices were to her. Nicholas Chenje is a professionally trained chef who currently heads Afrolicious Restaurant in downtown Hamilton. Nicholas is extremely excited to be working with restaurant owner, Nancy, to bring pan-African flavours and dishes to all of Hamilton.

Watch the Instruction Video Here!

Ingredients (Chakalaka): 

• 2 tbsp cooking oil (vegetable, sunflower, canola or other as preferred)
• 1 large Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 Carrot (grated or Shredded)
• 1-2 Bell Peppers, small dice (red, yellow, or orange)
• 1 can baked beans in tomato sauce 
• 1 cup of spicy marinara sauce OR pureed tomatoes (optional add a pinch of chili flakes or cayenne to make it spicy if desired)
• 1/2 teaspoon each – Curry powder, garam masala, Somalian spice* 
• 1 teaspoon each – Chili powder and ginger powder*
• Black pepper and Salt to taste 

Directions (Chakalaka):  

1. Begin by heating the pan and oil on medium-high heat. Then add the chopped onion and saute 2-3 minutes, until soft. 
2. Add chopped peppers to pan and saute for a minute 
3. Add curry powder, garam masala, Somalian spice, chili powder and ginger powder, and mix in pan, heat for about a minute 
4. Add baked beans, then season with a pinch of salt and pepper, saute for about 2 minutes 
5. Add spicy marinara or pureed tomatoes, saute for 3-5 minutes. If using pureed tomatoes, you can saute for a few extra minutes and add a pinch of cayenne or chili flakes to add some heat.  
6. Add carrots, saute for 1-2 minutes.  

* A note about spices – there are quite a few spices that can be used for this recipe. If you only have a few available, that is okay, the recipe will still turn out quite tasty! Somalia spice may be a bit trickier to find if you can’t make it to an international foods store, you could mix together a bit of coriander, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric if you’re trying to create your own. Otherwise, you could just sprinkle in any of those spices if you have them. 

Ingredients (Grilled Cheese): 

• 2 slices of bread per sandwich, 3 slices (if you would like triple stack)
• ½ cup cheese grated, cheddar and/or mozzarella (approximately, per sandwich)
• 2-3 tbsp butter (room temperature for ease)
• ¼ – ½ cup of prepared chakalaka 
• ¼ cup of diced onion (optional)
• ½ pepper (optional) 

Directions (Grilled Cheese): 

1. Add butter, onion and pepper to a medium heat pan for 3-4 minutes, then remove from pan (or omit this step if not using onion and pepper) 
2. Butter one side of bread. You can use mayonnaise too instead of butter!  
3. With pan heated to medium, add bread to pan (buttered side down) 
4. Layer on the cheese to both slices of bread (3, if doing a triple stack), followed by the cooked onion/pepper (if using), followed by a layer of the chakalaka  
5. Fold the cheesy/chakalaka layers together onto a plate and enjoy! (first stack the middle layer if using 3 slices)