Bunny Chow: South African Curry in a Loaf of Bread
When I visited Jay in Philadelphia, I convinced him to make Bunny Chow. This is, of course, a 1000 Food item to eat before you die. He had had it while working in Durban but during our time together in J’Burg and Kruger, I had not had the pleasure. Jay had made South African curries before so I figured this would be a good opportunity to try it. Not only did we have it in a loaf of bread but we had it in a loaf of JAY’s freshly baked bread. So Bunny Chow (which Jay knew only as “bunnies”) is a curry that is served as a full bunny (full loaf of bread), 1/2 bunny (bread cut in half) or quarter bunny (maybe this one is obvious). It is a way for workers to make the curry portable and something that could be eaten by hand. Jay’s curry was delicious.
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Bunny Chow
Ingredients:
2 lbs of chicken or lamb, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced
2 large tomatoes or can of tomatoes
2 Tbsp oil (prefer olive oil)
1 stick cinnamon
1.5 tsp crushed ginger
2 tblsp masala (if you can get it) or regular curry powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
3-4 potatoes, cubed
Salt to taste
Add peri-peri or chili peppers to taste
1 or 2 loaves of fresh white bread (crusty outside to contain the curry and soft inside)
Instruction:
1.Heat the oil and fry cinnamon and onion until soft and light golden brown.
2.Add the masala (or curry powder), turmeric, ginger, garlic and tomato. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mix resembles a puree.
3.Add the cubed meat and cook for about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and about 1/4 cup of water. Simmer over low heat until the meat and potatoes are tender (approx. 30 minutes). Note: we were in a hurry so had microwaved both the potatose and the chicken before adding it to the mix.
4.Add garam masala. Add salt if necessary. Simmer for a further 10 minutes on a low heat.
5.Cut bread loaves in half and hollow out to form a bowl.
6.Spoon the cooked hot curry into the half loaf and serve The soft inside of the bread is typically put on top and used to soak up some of the sauce from the curry as a “starter”.
