Bunny Chow

Africa

Bunny Chow

Bunny chow is a unique South African street food made up of a spicy curry served in a hollowed out loaf of bread. You don’t have to be in Durban to enjoy this fun recipe! 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp dry, ground, minced
• ½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced or (1/8 tsp dry, ground ginger)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 green cardamom pods, split
• 2 small whole cloves or 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 tomatoes, diced (roughly 2 c)
• 1 Tb curry powder
• 1 ½ tsp chilli powder
• 1 ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 4 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• ½ c water
• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 loaves white bread, un-sliced

Instructions

• Heat a large sauté pan with high sides or a Dutch oven over high heat. Add the beef chunks a few at a time, as to not over-crowd the pan. Sear the beef cubes on all sides and remove from the pan. Set aside.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the oinions and sauté until golden, 5-7 min.
• Add the garlic, ginger, bay, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon stick. Sauté until the mixture is fragrant, 1-2 min.
• Add the diced tomatoes along with the curry powder, chili powder, garam masala, coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Cook for 4-5 min, until the tomatoes start to break down.
• Add the seared meat and diced potatoes to the pan along with ½ c of water. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
• Cover and simmer over low heat for 30-40 min, until potatoes are cooked and the meat is tender. Check the curry occasionally during cooking and add a little water if it seems to be getting too dry.
• Towards the end of cooking time, mix in the vinegar and salt.

0 1 2 Assembling the Bunny

While the curry is cooking, slice the loaves of bread in half and hollow each half out, creating two cube-shaped bowls out of each loaf. (Be careful to leave enough bread around the edges to keep the structure of the ‘bowl’.)

To serve, spoon the curry into each half loaf bowl.

Serve the bunny with extra bread, if desired, and a side salad.