Bunny Chow (Durban Curry in a Bread Loaf)

About This Recipe

Bunny chow — or just 'a bunny' to locals — is the signature street food of Durban, South Africa, and one of the world's great fusion inventions. Half a loaf of white bread is hollowed out, the soft interior 'virgin' kept aside, and the cavity filled to overflowing with a spicy Durban-style lamb, mutton, or sugar-bean curry. You eat it standing, tearing chunks of the soaked, gravy-stained bread to scoop up the curry, finishing with the virgin bread plug at the end. The curry itself is unmistakably Durban Indian: thick, oily, fiery with chili, redolent of garam masala and curry leaves, with potatoes that have collapsed into the gravy. It is one of the most satisfying meals you can eat with two hands and zero ceremony.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 800 glamb shoulder or mutton, cubed
• 3 tbspneutral oil
• 2 largeonions, finely sliced
• 5 clovesgarlic, minced
• 1 thumbginger, minced
• 3fresh green chilies, slit
• 2cinnamon sticks
• 4cardamom pods, bruised
• 1star anise
• 2 tbspDurban masala (or hot curry powder)
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspground coriander
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 4ripe tomatoes, grated
• 500 gwaxy potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 sprigfresh curry leaves
• 500 mlwater
• 2 tspsalt
• 2 tbspfresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 loavessoft white sandwich bread, unsliced

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown lamb

   Heat oil in a heavy pot. Sear lamb in batches until well browned, 4 minutes per batch. Remove.

2. 2

   Bloom aromatics

   Lower heat. Cook onions 10 minutes until deep golden — this depth is what makes a great Durban curry. Add garlic, ginger, chilies, cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise; cook 2 minutes.

3. 3

   Toast spices

   Add masala, turmeric, cumin, and coriander. Stir for 90 seconds until intensely fragrant and the oil separates orange around the edge.

   If your masala doesn't darken the oil, your curry will taste raw — keep it moving for a full minute and a half.

4. 4

   Build base

   Stir in tomato paste; fry 2 minutes. Add grated tomato; cook 6–8 minutes until thick and jammy and the oil pools at the edges again.

5. 5

   Stew

   Return lamb. Add curry leaves, water, salt. Bring to a simmer, cover, cook 60 minutes.

6. 6

   Add potatoes

   Stir in potatoes. Simmer uncovered 25–30 minutes until potatoes are tender and the curry is thick, oily, and clings to the meat.

7. 7

   Prep bread

   Cut each loaf in half. Hollow out each half, leaving a 2 cm wall. Reserve the bread plug ('virgin').

8. 8

   Fill

   Spoon hot curry into each bread cavity, slightly overfilling. Place the virgin plug on top or alongside.

9. 9

   Eat with hands

   Tear the virgin into pieces to scoop curry. Eat the gravy-stained walls last as the curry has soaked them deeply. No fork allowed.

Variations

• •

  Bean bunny: substitute sugar beans or red kidney beans for lamb — equally traditional and entirely vegetarian.

• •

  Chicken bunny: use bone-in chicken thighs; reduce simmer to 35 minutes.

• •

  Half-bunny vs. quarter: a 'quarter' is a smaller loaf portion for one person; a 'half' (used here) feeds two hungry or one ravenous.

Storage

Make curry up to 3 days ahead — it improves. Only assemble the bunny when ready to eat or the bread turns to mush. Refrigerate filled bunnies no more than 2 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions