Bunny Chow with Mutton Curry
This truly South African dish, dated to the 1940’s, originated from the large Indian community in Durban who needed to replace the traditional roti which, by that time, was hard to find. They needed a substantial vessel to carry their curries and accordingly halved and hollowed out this affordable and easily found white bread loaf.
Bunny chows were originally made with vegetable curries but later also developed a meatier version. This version was made with a traditional garam masala mutton curry that is as mild (or spicy) as you enjoy. Aromatics in this mutton curry comes from ginger, cinnamon, garam masala, cumin, coriander and curry seeds.
This curry is perfect to be used in a bunny chow, or simply served as a delicious, aromatic curry over basmati rice or a butter roti!
Bunny Chow with Mutton Curry
Ingredients
Mutton Curry
- 2 kg lamb knuckles
- 60 ml olive oil (halved)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 brown onions (finely chopped)
- 1 green pepper (finely diced)
- 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp ginger (finely grated)
- 2 tsp curry seeds
- 2 tsp dried chili flakes (heaped or to taste)
- 1¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp garam masala (see additional recipe)
- 2 tsp cumin seeds (roughly crushed)
- 2 tsp corriander seeds (roughly crushed)
- 3 tomatoes (chopped and peeled OR 1 can)
- 5 large potatoes
- 125 g greek yoghurt
- Salt & pepper
Sambal
- 1 tomato (finely diced)
- ½ red onion (finely chopped)
- ½ cup coriander leaves (roughly chopped)
- ½ red chili (finely diced)
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- Salt, pepper & sugar (to taste)
Instructions
For the curry
- Over high heat, add half the oil to a heavy cast iron casserole. Brown and caramelize the meat in small batches. Remove from the casserole.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining oil to the casserole. Add the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Gently fry for 1 minute.
- Add the onions. Braise until browned.
- Add the green pepper, garlic, ginger and curry seeds. Fry for 2 minutes. Add the chili powder, turmeric, masala, cumin -and coriander seeds.
- Add 1 cup of boiling water and cook through until fragrant. Be careful not to let it burn.
- Add the meat and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and allow to cook until cooked through and tender. This takes approximately 2- 2 ½ hours but depends greatly on the meat. Add more water as necessary.
- Once the meat is tender, add the potatoes and cook until soft. Once the potatoes are cooked, add the yoghurt to make the curry creamy.
- Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt, fresh coriander leaves and a tomato and onion sambal.
Tomato & onion sambal
- Mix all the ingredients together and season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
Notes
- This curry can be made as mild or spicy to taste. Simply add more chili!
- Can be served with rice or roti's as alternative to the half loaf.
- If the curry is too spicy, add a dollop of yoghurt when serving.
