A personal favorite that is very quintessentially British.
For those not in the know, Bangers = Sausages. This dish is so simple to make and my oldest memory of it is having it at school for lunch served with peas. I wasn't too keen on the peas part but I do love this meal and its very kid friendly. The thing that brings it all together is the gravy. Back in the day i used to use gravy granules (just add hot water and mix) but once I learnt how easy it was to make my own gravy, life changed for the better.
Oh and don't forget to use good quality sausages, I particularly like the chunky hand made sausages not the usual mass produced stuff. If you have access to boerwors, that also works.
Serves 4
8 sausages
12 medium size potatoes, cut in half
1 large onion, coarsley chopped
2 tbs all purpose flour
Dried mixed herbs
100g unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup water or stock
1/2 cup milk
Salt
Cooking oil
First thing is to cook our sausages. Place some oil in a pan on medioum heat and once the oil is hot, cook the sausages for around 12 minutes making sure to turn them around in the pan to get an even golden brown color.
Once done, take the sausages off the heat and in the same pan, add your onion, butter and mixed herbs and cook on a low heat until your onions are soft and translucent. Then add in your flour and a generous pinch of salt and mix it in (dont worry if there's a few lumps). This should form a sort of paste. Gradually add in the water or stock and use a whisk to mix it all up and to get rid of any lumps. Let this simmer on a medium heat and once the sauce begins to thicken and look glossy, take it of the heat and set aside.
Last is the mash. Bring about 1.5 litres of water to the boil, add 1 tsp of salt and your potatoes. Boil your potatoes until fork tender. Drain the water from the potatoes in the pan. In the same pan with the potatoes, add your milk and butter and mash until creamy or whatever consistency you like.
Serve your mash first with your sausages on top (and some veg if you like) and then spoon the gravy over your food.