667.Bunny Chow

All in One

BM #78 Week 2 Day 1

I’m into my second participation in the Blogging Marathon and it is definitely helping me to plan better and discover new dishes around the world. For the Oceanic Cuisine which should not be confused with Oceania which is a region consisting of islands in the Pacific Ocean. For the Oceanic Cuisine, a theme selected by Srivalli for the BM, she suggested that we can choose a cuisine of any country that is surrounded by 2 or more oceans or seas.

I chose to cook a dish from South Africa. South Africa is surrounded by South Atlantic, Indian Ocean and at the tip by the Southern Ocean. It is a multiethnic country with strong influence in both culture and cuisine from the English, Dutch, Asians and the local tribes. While braai or roast is the most common and popular, there are many other types of food that are famous in South Africa. The Dutch East India Company brought to South Africa spices like nutmeg, allspice and chilli peppers. They brought slaves from India, Malaysia and Java. With them came spicy curries, sambal, pickled fish and fish stews.

I decided to make a popular Indian street food called Bunny Chow. It originates from  Durban, made by the Indian community and is usually referred to as bunny. No, it has nothing to do with a rabbit. It is believed that migrants workers were brought from India to work on the sugar plantations. They apparently carried their curries in a hollowed out loaf of bread to eat. The other story is that Banias as Indians were called back then by the local people, created this dish at restaurant cum cafe called Kapitan to serve to the the coloured people as takeaway. Coloureds were not allowed to dine with the Whites so its believed that the Indian cooks would serve curries through the back windows in hollowed out loafs.

These days mostly meat curries are served in the hollow bread. I decided to make a vegetarian curry. I’m in Montreal enjoying summer with my son. I tried looking for a rectangle loaf of unsliced bread in the supermarket near our home but couldn’t find any. Most of them were sliced. But I must tell you tell the choice of ‘proper’ bread is amazing right from sourdoughs to crusty baguettes, rye breads, seeded ones, country style and so much more. Its a change from eating sweet doughy breads that are available in India and Kenya. So I had to use the next best alternate and that is buns. The family enjoyed this vegetarian bunny chow. Its going to be a regular on our table. To make it more authentic I used home made Durban Curry Masala.

Durban Curry Masala

BUNNY CHOW
For 4

Ingredients for the bunny chow:

2 cups cooked chickpeas (kabuli chana)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tbsp oil
4-6 curry leaves (kari patta, limbdi)
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
2-3 tsp Durban Curry Masala
¾ cup fresh tomato puree
½ cup water
2 crusty loaves of bread or 4 buns
1 -1½ tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
½ tsp mustard seeds (rai)
3 tbsp fresh chopped coriander

Ingredients for Durban Curry Masala (recipe source: The Spruce)
Makes about ¼ cup

3 tsp mild chilli powder
½ tsp hot red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
1 tsp cumin powder (jeera)
¼ tsp cardamom powder (elachi)
½ tsp cinnamon powder (taj)
¼ tsp fenugreek powder (methi)
½ tsp ginger powder (adrak)
¼tsp clove powder (laving, laung)

To prepare the Durban Curry Masala:

1. I lightly roasted all the spices mentioned above except the chilli powders.
2. After they cooled down, I ground each one separately in a mortar and pestle as the quantity was little.
3. Then I blended the required amount of spices.
4. The remaining powders were stored in for use in other dishes.
5. Store the remaining Dutch Curry Masala in an airtight container.

 

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