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| Nutrition Facts | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Serving Size 1 (1187g) Recipe makes 2 servings The following items or measurements are not included below: 1 star anise 3 whole cardamom pods curry leaves |
||
| Calories 2166 | ||
| Calories from Fat 1111 | (51%) | |
| Amount Per Serving | %DV | |
| Total Fat 123.5g | 189% | |
| Saturated Fat 36.1g | 180% | |
| Monounsaturated Fat 50.3g | ||
| Polyunsaturated Fat 28.5g | ||
| Trans Fat 0.0g | ||
| Cholesterol 303mg | 101% | |
| Sodium 1645mg | 68% | |
| Potassium 2797mg | 79% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 155.2g | 51% | |
| Dietary Fiber 13.5g | 53% | |
| Sugars 16.1g | ||
| Protein 106.6g | 213% | |
Bunny Chow and Its Durban Curry
By: Zurie
Apr 1, 2007
This is a story: with a recipe. During the Great Depression in 1933 Indians, whites and Chinese in Durban, South Africa, suffered hunger like everyone else. The kids then discovered that the cheapest curry they could buy (for a quarter penny or half a penny) was made by a vegetarian Indian caste known in Durban slang as the Bania. It was made from dried sugarbeans (no meat). The children didn't have plates, and one kid got the bright idea to hollow out a quarter bread, asked the seller to put the bean curry in the hollowed-out bread, and then used the broken bread he's taken out as a sort of eating utensil. Chinese food was called "chow". Somehow the two words came together: Bania Chow. In time it simply became known as Bunny Chow. Bunny Chow was what the Indian sugar plantation workers took as their day's food to the lands: curry in hollowed-out bread halves. Cheap and practical ... Today it does not matter what your skin colour or station in life is: Durbanites and people from the Kwa-Zulu-Natal province love their bunny chow ... For this story and the recipe he managed to get from "the mysterious Lingela" who makes bunny chows daily, I am indebted to "Kitchenboy". Should he happen upon this story, he'll know who he is ... Thanks, Braam!
SERVES 2 -4
Ingredients
- 1 loaf bread, white, unsliced, flat-topped
Whole spices
- 1 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cardamom pods
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 onion, chopped
Fine spices
- 3 tablespoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander (seeds)
- 1 teaspoon hot ground pepper (like cayenne)
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
The meat
- 2 tomatoes, medium, chopped
- 2 lbs leg of lamb, in cubes (or beef)
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 6 curry leaves
- 2 potatoes, large, in cubes
- cilantro (optional)
Directions
1
Fry all the ingredients listed under "Whole Spices" until the onion is glassy.2
Add the list called "Fine Spices". Lingela says: "Stir and fry until the spices stick to the bottom of the pot. If you have a good Teflon-coated pot, go and buy a cheap one first.".3
Now add the tomatoes, and stir until everything sticking to the pot bottom comes loose.4
Add the meat, ginger, garlic and curry leaves.5
Simmer for half an hour or more, until the meat is almost tender, then add a little water and the potato cubes.6
Simmer until meat is tender.7
The bread:.8
It should be the unsliced rectagular loaf with the flat top, known in South Africa as a "Government sandwich loaf".9
You could cut the bread across into two, three or four even chunks, depending on how hungry the eaters will be.10
Whatever you decide, with a sharp knife cut out most of the soft white bread, leaving a thick wall and bottom. Keep the bread you removed.11
Ladle the curry into the hollows, and then put back on top the bread you removed. You could use this bread to help eat the curry, as "this is ALWAYS eaten with the hands".12
(Actually, any kind of curry goes into a bunny chow. It depends on the cook and your tastes!).
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Featured Reviews for This Recipe
From: Beamic
On Mar 19, 2009
This dish was amazing as soon as I saw it I had to have it....It is a must have even though with the whole spices I added 3 chillis... still was not hot enough but it did the trick... thank you for the awesome recipe
From: mersaydees
On Jun 27, 2008
Although the story and the promise of a rich spicy lamb dish lured me, this recipe did not work for me. It was coming along nicely until I tried to "stir and fry until the spices stick to the bottom of the pot"; the spices never stuck, and I think they burnt in the process; I'm wondering if it's because of the 1/2 cup of oil? When I've tried recipes like this in the past, they've called for 3 tablespoons of oil, most of which gets absorbed into the spices! I'm just guessing here! I did make my own Garam Masala (Hot Mixed Spice), and I substituted kaffir lime leaves for the curry leaves, which were not available in my area. Sorry, Zurie! Made for ZWT4.
From: CraftScout
On Jun 24, 2008
I love the story of this recipe. I love the name of this recipe. I love the presentation of this recipe. I think once I find that perfect curry that everyone in my family loves, this will be the only way I will want to serve it! 
Unfortunately this particular curry was not to our taste. The kids and I thought it was too spicy (and I was wondering how it got so spicy from a smidge of cayenne!). The hotheads of the family thought it needed to be MORE spicy. I did have a couple of problems making it. First, I could not find curry leaves. I didn't know that there was an actual curry plant (I thought it was just the name of a type of blend). I went to 3 different grocery stores ranging from cheap ethnic to suburbanite to all organic and not one of them had any. So I substituted bay, which I know means that what we tasted is not what you would. Also, with the amount of oil and the oil coming out of the whole spices, I could not get my spices to stick! lol I waited, I stirred, I waited, I stirred, finally I had to get the dish going so my family could eat. I don't think it hurt the dish too much, as there was a rich texture of flavor to this dish, very intensely spiced. Thank you for posting, made for ZWT4.
From: Keltria
On Mar 26, 2008
Being a Durbanite, and being a Bunny Chow eater, I am always looking for new ways to make curry to have as a Bunny Chow. My family loves it and it is filling. I was so happy to see a Bunny Chow recipe here, I instantly made it. It was wonderful, tasty, and not too "hot". The only thing I added was Carrots. MAny thanks for sharing this recipe, it was wonderful and I will definately use it again.
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