It may look like a simple toasted sanger, but don’t let that fool you. This beats the old ham and cheese toastie by a country mile.
The first time I tasted this concoction was in the Gold Coast driveway at Bushwakka headquarters. It was Friday Braai-Day, and I was invited. For the uninitiated, a braai is a South African barbeque. But LPG isn’t considered ‘lekker’ to the Saffas, they’re classier preferring to cook over coals. What I thought was going to be a simple toasted sandwich, was a phenomenon. The chutney was bursting with sweet flavour, balanced brilliantly against the onion and cheese. And the bread took on the smoky flavour of the fire. I was hooked.
Method
Prepare a bed of coals in advance and allow them to lightly smoulder. You don’t want big flames or infernos unless of course you like pure carbon sandwiches. The trick here is low and slow heat, that will nicely brown your toast and slowly melt the cheese inside.
Butter your bread, as this will become the outside of your sandwich. Then inside layer the tomato, cheese (2 x slices), raw onion and salt and pepper. And lastly, a generous lashing of Mrs Balls’ chutney. There are a bunch of flavours of this chutney (peach is a favourite), but the ‘Hot’ flavour isn’t actually hot. It’s super mild. And the chutney here is the secret weapon for sure.
Place the sandwiches buttered side out in the BBQ grid, and put over low heat, turning every minute until golden brown.
Wash down with your favourite lager or cider while sitting on the tailgate of your bakkie (that’s Ute for you Aussies).
Ingredients
Bread
Butter
Raw onion rings
Tomato
Cheese (cheddar)
Mrs Balls Chutney
Salt & Pepper
Special thanks our ex-South African buddies Don Butler and Johnny and Annalise at Bushwakka for this recipe!
