recipe-1

Recipe-1 › Curries of the world › Durban curry and bunny chow

Durban, South Africa

Durban curry and bunny chow

A fiery, bright-red curry made by Durban’s large Indian community, the descendants of indentured workers. It is famously served as bunny chow: a hollowed-out quarter loaf of white bread filled with curry.

Close to the base recipe Hot

Too hot for you? Use half the chilli (powder, paste or fresh chillies) and leave out the green chillies.

New here? How this page works

Recipe-1 is one simple curry recipe in nine steps: fry onions and green chillies, add your vegetables or meat, add chilli powder and turmeric, then water and salt, and boil. With small changes the same nine steps make curries from all over the world.

This page takes those nine steps and shows what to change to make Durban curry and bunny chow. You don’t need to read anything else first: every base step is written out below. The changes are worked out on paper from what is typical for this dish; not yet kitchen-tested. Cooked it? Tell others how it went.

Green: the base recipe step (crossed out = do not use it for this dish)Red: what to do instead for Durban curry and bunny chow

See the full base recipe (with timers and tips) · See all curries on the world map

You’ll need

How many people?4

The amounts change with the number of people; cooking times stay about the same (use a bigger pot for more). Taste as you go: you can always add more chilli or salt, but you cannot take it out.

Main ingredient: 750 g Mutton, lamb or chicken; sugar beans for a vegetarian version.

From the base recipe

  • 2 Onions
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 4 tbsp Cooking oil
  • Red chilli powder not used
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp · 300 ml Salt and water
  • 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
  • 3 · 3 · 5 cm Cloves, cardamom and cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Garam masala (optional)

Add for Durban curry and bunny chow

  • 2–3 tbsp Durban masala (a hot red curry powder)
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 2 Tomatoes
  • 2 Potatoes
  • 1 · 1 tsp Star anise and fennel seeds
  • 1 A loaf of white bread for bunny chow

Leave out

  • Nothing: use it all.

The nine steps, with the changes

Where a step has a red line, do the red line and not the crossed-out green base step. Steps with only green are done just as in the base recipe.

  1. Cut onions and chillies.

  2. Base step: do not useFry in some oil for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Durban curry and bunny chow: do thisFry with curry leaves, a star anise, fennel seeds and the whole spices (step B). Add ginger garlic paste.

  3. Base step: do not useCut the vegetable(s) of your choice.

    Durban curry and bunny chow: do thisUse the meat (or beans), plus potato chunks.

  4. Base step: do not useAdd them and fry for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Durban curry and bunny chow: do thisAdd the meat and fry, then add 2 chopped tomatoes.

  5. Base step: do not useAdd red chilli powder and turmeric.

    Durban curry and bunny chow: do thisUse Durban masala in place of chilli powder; keep the turmeric.

  6. Keep frying until just before they start browning.

  7. Add some water.

  8. Add salt.

  9. Base step: do not useBoil until the gravy is as thick as you like.

    Durban curry and bunny chow: do thisSimmer until the meat is tender and the gravy thick enough to hold in bread.

Serve: In a hollowed-out quarter loaf (bunny chow), or with rice and sambals.

For meat and seafood, make sure it is cooked through: chicken until no pink remains inside; mutton, goat and beef need long, slow cooking.

← Jamaican curry goatAll curries on the mapBurmese chicken curry →

This page is available in:

English · Deutsch · 日本語 · Español · हिन्दी · ગુજરાતી · Bahasa Melayu · Türkçe · 简体中文 · 繁體中文（香港） · اردو · العربية

More languages are coming soon.