Table Trotter

Draft preview — not yet published

Dinner night · South Africa

Chicken Sosaties with Apricot Curry Glaze

Sweet-savory curried chicken skewers off the braai — South Africa's answer to satay, with apricot jam doing the heavy lifting.

Tried at our table
Prep
260 min
Cook
20 min
Total
40 min
Serves
4 (two dinners for two, or leftovers for lunch)
Budget
$18–$24

Sosaties are marinated meat skewers — cubes of chicken thigh soaked in a curry-apricot-lemon marinade, threaded with red onion and bell pepper, then grilled or roasted until the edges caramelize. The apricot jam gives a glossy sweet-tart glaze that chars beautifully, while curry powder and garlic keep it savory underneath. Served over rice with a cooling yogurt-cucumber side, it eats like a milder, fruitier satay.

Why we love it

Skewers are hands-on food — an 8-year-old can thread his own (blunt-end skewers) and claim the result. The flavor profile is a kid-safe on-ramp to curry: the jam's sweetness leads, the spice follows gently. And it's genuinely novel for the rotation — first South African dish in the collection, using ingredients you already keep (chicken, onion, pepper, lemon, garlic, rice, yogurt).

Field notes · Origin & culture

Sosaties are a signature dish of Cape Malay cooking — the food culture built by the descendants of enslaved and exiled people the Dutch East India Company brought to the Cape from Indonesia, Malaysia, and India in the 1600s–1700s. The name likely fuses the Malay sate (skewered meat) with saus (sauce), and the dish is that history on a stick: Southeast Asian skewer technique, Indian spicing, and local Cape ingredients like apricots. Traditionally made with lamb or mutton and cooked over open coals, sosaties are a fixture of the South African braai (barbecue), where the marinade — curry, apricot, onion, a splash of vinegar — is considered as essential as the meat itself.

Noteworthy ingredients

  • Apricot jam — the signature. Smooth (no big chunks) glazes best; any supermarket brand works. Substitute: peach preserves or orange marmalade in a pinch.
  • Curry powder — a standard mild yellow curry powder is authentic here (Cape Malay curry is aromatic, not fiery). You do not need garam masala or anything specialty.
  • Wooden or metal skewers — soak wooden ones 20 min so they don't scorch. Any store; H Mart has sturdy bamboo ones cheap.
  • Plain yogurt — for the cucumber side; whole-milk Greek works, thinned with a little water or lemon juice.

Prep — 260 min

  1. If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water now.
  2. Whisk the marinade: ⅓ cup apricot jam, 2 tbsp curry powder, 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp vinegar, juice of ½ lemon, minced garlic, 1 tsp salt, black pepper.
  3. Cube the chicken thighs into ~1½" pieces; cut the onion into petals and the peppers into similar-size squares.
  4. Reserve 3 tbsp of marinade in a small bowl (this becomes the glaze — keep it away from raw chicken).
  5. Toss the chicken in the rest of the marinade. 30 minutes on the counter works; up to 4 hours covered in the fridge is better.
  6. Thread skewers: chicken, onion, pepper, repeat — don't pack pieces tightly, a little air gap cooks evenly.

Cook — 20 min

  1. Start the rice first — it finishes while the skewers cook.
  2. Broiler method: rack ~6" from the element, broil on a foil-lined sheet pan 6–7 min per side. Grill method: medium-high, direct heat, turning every 4–5 min.
  3. In the last 3 minutes, brush the skewers with the reserved glaze and let it caramelize — watch it, jam goes from glossy to burnt fast.
  4. Chicken is done at 165°F / juices run clear (~15–18 min total).
  5. While it cooks: grate or dice the cucumber, squeeze out excess water, stir into the yogurt with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Serving

  • Pile skewers over the rice, spoon of yogurt-cucumber on the side, lemon wedge on the plate.
  • Kid adjustments: make two of the skewers jam-heavy/spice-light (brush extra glaze, lighter marinade coat) — and let him eat them straight off the stick, that's the point of skewers.
  • Leftovers: pull the meat off the skewers before refrigerating; it reheats better and turns into a great wrap with the yogurt sauce as the spread.
  • Extra credit if grilling: a handful of dried apricots threaded between the meat is the traditional touch.

← Back to the map