National Dishes of the World

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Bunny chow
Photo: Djreddy1985, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

snack

Bunny chow

A hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with spicy curry – Durban’s cult street food.

Eaten in: South Africa

Prep
20 min
Cooking
1 h 30 min
Total
1 h 50 min
Servings
4

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About the dish

Bunny chow was born in Durban’s Indian community and remains one of the city’s emblems. A quarter or half loaf of white bread is hollowed out and filled with hot, boldly spiced curry, most often mutton or chicken, or beans for a vegetarian version. The scooped-out bread is put back on top and used to mop up the sauce, and the whole thing is eaten by hand, tearing off pieces of curry-soaked bread. It usually comes with a simple salad of grated carrot, onion and chilli.

Main ingredients

  • unsliced white bread
  • mutton or chicken
  • potatoes
  • onion
  • tomatoes
  • masala spice
  • curry leaves

South Africa: A symbol of Durban, where it is ordered simply as a “bunny” by the quarter, half or whole loaf.

More: Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Bunny chow

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/bunny-chow

Ingredients

4 servings

4 servings

Method

  1. Cut the meat into 3 cm cubes and peel and quarter the potatoes.

  2. Fry the cinnamon, cardamom and curry leaves in the oil, add the chopped onions and cook until golden.

  3. Add the grated garlic and ginger, the masala and turmeric, fry for a minute, then add the meat and brown it on all sides.

  4. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, season with salt, pour in 300 ml of water and simmer, covered, for about an hour.

  5. Add the potatoes and cook for another 20–25 minutes until tender and the sauce is thick.

  6. Cut the loaf into quarters, hollow out each piece leaving thick walls, and set the scooped-out bread aside.

  7. Fill the bread with curry, sprinkle with coriander, top with the reserved bread and serve at once.

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