BraaiBoy’s Chakalaka: An Insanely Delicious (Quick & Easy) Relish

What exactly IS Chakalaka?

Chakalaka (or chaka laka) is a truly South African vegetable relish / sauce made using baked beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic and curry. A few other veggies you have lying around can be thrown in if you please. The most popular opinion is that it was created when mineworkers would cook tinned veggies (mostly tomatoes, onions & baked beans) with chilli to produce a spicy Portuguese-style relish to add extra flavour to their pap.

Many variations of Chakalaka exist and most of them include Baked Beans… but in BraaiBoy’s version of Chakalaka there is NO BAKED BEANS.

Why No Baked Beans in BraaiBoy’s Version?

I “discovered” this recipe back when I still had a BraaiBoy Bistro in the JHB CBD. We would often be called upon to cater Year End functions, team building events and product launches etc. for the local corporates in the area.

One of the favourite menus requested for was an old school straight-up “Braai Plate”: Steak, Wors, Coleslaw, Pap & Chakalaka. I was busy prepping and making the Chakalaka Sauce for one such event when I noticed I had forgotten the baked beans. I doubled up on the Tomatoes, added some extra Worcestershire sauce, probably threw in some sugar as well… and the result was a DELICIOUSLY sweet & spicy variation of the traditional Chakalaka… that even I gobbled down. You see, I really can’t get myself to enjoy baked beans on or in anything.

Anyway, some of guests at this event had tasted our braai plates before, and a number of them came up to us after dinner to comment on the pap’s relish specifically.

Insanely Delicious (Cheat) Chakalaka

BraaiBoy's Insanely Delicious Chakalaka Recipe (Sans Beans)

5 from 1 vote

Print Share Pin Rate

Sauce

Braai

sauce, south african sauce, spicy

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 120 people

Calories: 0.027kcal

Author: BraaiBoy

Ingredients

• ▢ 3.2 kg Boerie Relish Try the "Sweet Tomato with Garlic" as well
• ▢ 3.06 kg Tomato & Onion Mix
• ▢ 125 ml Worcestershire Sauce
• ▢ 100 g Curry Powder Mild, Medium or Hot
• ▢ 2 Green Peppers Diced
• ▢ 4 Carrots Grated

How to Braai

Prep required

• Dice green peppers and grate carrots

  (and open the cans – duh)
  2 Green Peppers, 4 Carrots

• Empty the Boerie Relish & Tomato/Onion Mix into a large pot
  3.2 kg Boerie Relish, 3.06 kg Tomato & Onion Mix
• Add Peppers, Carrots, Worcestershire Sauce and Curry powder to the pot
  125 ml Worcestershire Sauce, 100 g Curry Powder, 2 Green Peppers, 4 Carrots
• Cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally until it's warm all the way through
• Serve and Enjoy!

Notes

Yes, this is a “cheat chakalaka recipe” using mostly ingredients from a can… but TRUST ME… this is one helluva lekker relish!

Oh and most importantly, there are NO BAKED BEANS in this chakalaka recipe, because BraaiBoy hates baked beans. He realises that most people don’t have this problem, but if you decide to add Baked Beans to his recipe, he takes no responsibility for the final product. 😉

Nutrition

Serving: 65g | Calories: 0.027kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @BraaiBoy or tag #LetsMeat & get featured!

P.S. If you’re looking for a Chakalaka relish from scratch recipe, then check out my traditional chakalaka recipe as well. Yes, that recipe DOES include baked beans 😉