Three ways to shake up the Heritage Day braai

From a sticky Seville orange braai glaze to cranberry chakalaka and a lemon and elderflower dressing, these easy recipes bring a fresh twist to the Heritage Month table.

Heritage Month arrives at just about the same time South Africans start finding excuses to spend more time outside again. The days are getting longer, the afternoons warmer and, after winter, lunch around the table can quite easily become an afternoon around the fire.

Food has always been part of the way we gather, but there is no single Heritage Month menu. What lands on the table depends on where you grew up, the food your family makes, the recipes that have been passed down and the flavours you have picked up along the way.

The braai might be a familiar thread, but what surrounds it is constantly changing. There might be boerewors and chops on one grid, chicken on another, mielies blackening over the coals and bowls of chakalaka, salads, roosterkoek and sauces slowly filling every available bit of table space. Someone brings something they have made for years. Someone else arrives with a new recipe they want everyone to try.

That mix of familiar and new is part of what makes the Heritage Month table interesting. The dishes we know don’t necessarily need reinventing, but there is always room to play with what goes alongside them, how they’re served and even some of the ingredients that find their way into the cooking.

This year, try taking a few familiar braai favourites in a slightly different direction. A sticky citrus glaze over chicken, a sweet-tart addition to smoky chakalaka and a fresh lemon and elderflower dressing over mielies all bring something new to the table without losing the relaxed simplicity of cooking and eating around the fire.

We’ve added an easy alcohol-free mocktail to each dish too, giving you three food-and-drink combinations that can be prepared without turning Heritage Day lunch into an all-morning kitchen exercise.

Light the fire, make some room around the table and give these three recipes a try. Here are three recipes to add to the Heritage Month braai.

Sticky Seville orange braai chicken. Image supplied by PR company.

Sticky Seville orange braai chicken

Serves 4–6

You’ll need

8 chicken thighs or drumsticks
330 ml PURA SODA Seville Orange
2 tbsp apricot jam
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp smoked paprika
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Pour the PURA SODA Seville Orange into a small saucepan and simmer gently until reduced by roughly half.

Add the apricot jam, soy sauce, mustard, garlic, paprika and lemon juice. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the mixture begins to thicken into a glossy glaze. Allow to cool.

Season the chicken and coat it with approximately half of the glaze, keeping the remainder separate for basting.

Braai the chicken over medium coals, turning regularly, until cooked through. During the final few minutes, brush generously with the reserved glaze, allowing it to become sticky and lightly caramelised over the fire.

Serve with charred mielies, a crunchy green salad and plenty of lemon wedges.

Pair it with: Seville orange & rooibos sunset

Brew rooibos tea and allow it to cool completely. Add 50 ml chilled rooibos to an ice-filled glass with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Top with PURA SODA Seville Orange, stir gently and garnish with a fresh orange slice.

Smoky cranberry chakalaka. Image supplied by PR company.

Smoky cranberry chakalaka

Serves 6 as a side

You’ll need

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 carrots, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp mild curry powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
150 ml PURA SODA Cranberry
1 x 400 g tin baked beans, drained slightly
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh coriander to serve

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and gently cook the onion and peppers until softened.

Add the carrots, garlic, chilli, curry powder and smoked paprika and cook for another two minutes.

Add the tomatoes and PURA SODA Cranberry. Simmer uncovered until the liquid has reduced and the vegetables are tender. The cranberry should add a subtle sweet-tart note rather than making the chakalaka noticeably sweet.

Stir through the beans and cook for another five minutes. Season to taste and finish with fresh coriander.

Serve warm or at room temperature alongside boerewors, steak, chicken or mielies straight from the braai.

Pair it with: Cranberry & lime cooler

Fill a glass with plenty of ice, add a squeeze of fresh lime and a handful of fresh or frozen berries. Top with PURA SODA Cranberry, stir gently and finish with mint and a lime wheel.

Charred mielies with lemon & elderflower dressing. Image supplied by PR company.

Charred mielies with lemon & elderflower dressing

Serves 6

You’ll need

6 mielies
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

150 ml PURA SODA Lemon & Elderflower
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
A small handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
A small handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper

To finish

100 g feta, crumbled
Fresh herbs
Lemon zest

Method

Pour the PURA SODA Lemon & Elderflower into a small saucepan and simmer until reduced to approximately 50 ml. Allow it to cool completely.

Whisk the reduction with the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and honey. Add the parsley and mint and season to taste.

Rub the mielies lightly with olive oil and season before placing them over medium-hot coals. Turn regularly until cooked and beautifully charred in places.

Arrange the hot mielies on a serving platter and spoon over the lemon and elderflower dressing. Finish with crumbled feta, fresh herbs and a little lemon zest.

Serve immediately while the mielies are still warm and the feta is beginning to soften.

Pair it with: Lemon & elderflower garden spritz

Fill a glass with ice, cucumber ribbons and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Top with PURA SODA Lemon & Elderflower and garnish with mint or a small sprig of rosemary.

Bring it all together

Put the sticky chicken, smoky cranberry chakalaka and charred mielies in the middle of the table with warm roosterkoek, a simple green salad and a few bowls of sauces, then let everyone help themselves.

Keep the drinks just as easy. Fill the cooler with all five PURA SODA flavours and set out plenty of ice, sliced citrus, fresh berries, cucumber, mint and chilled rooibos for anyone who wants to make one of the mocktails or experiment with their own.

There doesn’t need to be much more planning than that. Good food coming off the fire, cold drinks within reach and enough chairs around the table for whoever happens to stay for lunch.