Biltong Potjie
Dried beef, dried vegetables, and powdered cream cooked slow in a pot over coals.
- calories
- 680
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 113
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 75 min
- total time
- 85 min
- water
- 700 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Biltong | 8 oz | sliced, not powdered; jerky works if that is what you have |
|---|---|---|
| Dried onion | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried mushrooms | 1 cup | loosely packed |
| Dried carrot and potato | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Powdered heavy cream or full-fat milk powder | 3/4 cup | |
| Beef bouillon | 2 cubes | |
| Cornstarch | 2 tbsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Black pepper, garlic powder, dried thyme | 1 tsp each | |
| Water | 700 ml plus a little |
Method
- Burn a fire down to coals. You want a bed you can hold a hand over for four seconds, not flames.
- Set the pot on the coals with the oil. Add the dried onion and a splash of water and let it soften for two minutes.
- Add the dried vegetables, mushrooms, bouillon, and spices. Pour in 600 ml of water. Lid on.
- Pull most of the coals out from under the pot and bank a few around the side. You are aiming for a lazy simmer, not a boil. Forty minutes.
- Stir in the biltong. Another twenty minutes with the lid on. It softens but stays chewy, which is the point.
- Whisk the cream powder and cornstarch into 100 ml of cool water until there are no lumps, then stir it in. Five minutes uncovered to thicken. Do not let it boil hard or it will break.
- Taste before salting. Biltong and bouillon bring plenty on their own.
Potjie is a slow pot over coals, and that part carries to camp fine. What does not carry is the fresh cream and fresh produce, so both got swapped: dried carrot, potato, and mushroom rehydrate in the same water that becomes the sauce, and powdered cream slurried with cornstarch does the job of a reduction without a fridge.
The fire is the actual skill here. Coals under the whole pot will scorch the bottom and split the cream. Bank them around the sides instead and let it tick over for an hour. Biltong goes in late because it only needs to soften and give up its salt, not cook.
Packing
Vegetables, mushrooms, bouillon, and spices go in one bag. Cream powder and cornstarch go in a second bag, dry, or they clump. Biltong rides in its own bag so it stays dry.
Variations
- Half a cup of dried tomato flakes in with the vegetables adds acid the cream needs.
- No campfire: run it on a low liquid-fuel stove in a heavy pot, stirring more often.
- Serve over instant rice or mash if you want to stretch four servings into six.
https://braaiculture.com/biltong-potjie-recipe