Bunny Chow
Durban, South Africa
Durban's legendary street food — a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with spicy curry. Created by the city's Indian community in the 1940s as a portable meal, the bread soaks up the curry from the inside, creating layers of texture from crunchy crust to sauce-saturated center. Traditionally made with mutton or bean curry. Eaten with your hands, tearing off pieces of bread to scoop the curry. The 'bunny' name has nothing to do with rabbits — it likely derives from 'bania,' a merchant caste.
Ingredients
- 1 loafunsliced white bread loaf
- 800 glamb or mutton (cubed)
- 3 tbspoil
- 2 mediumonions (finely chopped)
- 3 tbspdurban curry powder (hot)
- 2 piecesstar anise
- 12 leavescurry leaves
- 2 largepotatoes (cubed)
- 2 tbspginger-garlic paste
- 1 largetomato (chopped)
Directions
- 1
Heat oil and sauté star anise, cinnamon stick, and curry leaves; add onions and ginger-garlic paste until golden.
- 2
Add the Durban curry powder and tomatoes, cooking until the oil begins to separate from the spice base.
- 3
Add the meat and brown thoroughly; then add potatoes and enough water to create a thick, rich gravy.
- 4
Simmer for 1 hour until the meat is tender and the potatoes have slightly thickened the sauce.
- 5
Cut the loaf of bread in half (or quarters) and hollow out the center, keeping the bread 'plug' intact.
- 6
Ladle the hot curry into the bread cavity, letting the gravy soak into the walls of the loaf.
- 7
Place the 'plug' back on top and serve with a side of carrot salad (sambal).