Name: Bunny Chow
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: South Africa, Southern Africa
Ingredients: 800 g lamb, chicken, beef, beans, or vegetables, chunked; 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 2 whole onions, finely chopped; 3 tbsp Durban curry powder; 1 tsp garam masala; 10 whole curry leaves; 400 g crushed tomatoes; 3 whole potatoes, quartered; 2 cups water or stock; 1 loaf unsliced white bread, cut into quarters or halves and hollowed; salt and black pepper, to taste

Bunny Chow

Durban bunny chow, a hollowed loaf filled with lamb, chicken, bean, or vegetable curry and served with the bread lid for scooping.

Country

South Africa

Region

Southern Africa

Time

95 min

Serves

Level

medium

What to know before you cook

The bread is the bowl and the utensil. The curry should be thick enough to soak the walls without collapsing the loaf.

What the dish tastes like

Durban bunny chow, a hollowed loaf filled with lamb, chicken, bean, or vegetable curry and served with the bread lid for scooping.

When to cook it

Best for Lunch, with a medium cooking level and about 95 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Carrot sambal, chopped onion, cucumber salad, achar, or extra gravy

Regional lane

Cape Malay and Durban table. Spiced mince, curry, bread bowls, and sweet-savory comfort cooking.

Chef watch-outs

Rushing the rest or fermentation period.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.

How you know it is ready

The bread or batter should smell pleasantly fermented, toasted, or nutty rather than floury.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Pantry lane

curry powder, apricot jam, chakalaka, mince, custard

Brown the meat

Heat oil in a heavy pot over high heat. Season lamb with salt and brown in batches until deep golden on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Do not overcrowd the pot — browning in batches ensures a good sear.

Brown meat 08:00

Cook the curry base

Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add curry powder, garam masala, and curry leaves, stirring for 2 minutes until fragrant.

Cook base 10:00

Simmer the curry

Add tomatoes and return the lamb to the pot. Add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 40 minutes.

Simmer curry 40:00

Add potatoes

Add the potato quarters to the curry. Continue simmering for another 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened.

The potatoes should be soft enough to break apart slightly, thickening the curry.

Cook potatoes 20:00

Prepare the bread

Cut the bread loaf in half. Hollow out each half, leaving about 2cm of bread on the sides and bottom. Keep the scooped-out bread for dipping.

Assemble and serve

Ladle the hot curry into the hollowed-out bread. Place the bread lid on top. Serve immediately, eating with your hands — tear pieces of bread and scoop up the curry.

Authentic bunny chow is always eaten with your hands, never cutlery.

Bunny Chow

What to know before you cook

See the dish before you cook

Build the table around Bunny Chow

Step-by-step method

Bunny Chow

What to know before you cook

See the dish before you cook

Build the table around Bunny Chow

Why Bunny Chow gets people talking

Step-by-step method

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