Bunny Chow – deliciously tasty South African Street food with made with aromatic spices, meat, chickpeas and potatoes served in hollow bread. A one-of-a-kind sandwich!
With winter in full swing, you can’t have enough comforting meals in your arsenal. I mean, think about it, why would want to make the same thing over and over again? That’s why you have me.
This it’s an absolutely perfect comfort food and you will not stop eating it. Again another favorite with hubby, he ate it for lunch, dinner and breakfast, until it was all gone. Forgot about everyone else – not good.
You will not come across a “sandwich” like this! Yes, indeed!
Bunny Chow is a very unique, portable and popular South African street food that exemplifies the natural fusion of South African Cuisine. A highly spiced curry that will get any spice lover excited, my kind of peeps!
Rest assured no bunnies are involved in this dish. It’s usually made with some sort of protein; Lamb, chicken or vegetables and oh so delicious! Served in a hollowed out bread bowl, makes it even more appealing for carb lovers.
Okay, the term bunny is another variation from the word “Bania“, an Indian class of traders who sold this tasty street food.
Don’t let the ingredients list scare, it’s simple and straight food and is no more complicated than making any stew. The only hard pressed decision is what to what meat to use. Or you can leave the meat for the carnivores and make it totally vegetarian or vegan if that’s your thing. Be sure to grab some bread from your neighborhood bakery and you are good to go. Or serve it a non-traditional way with rice and some vegetables
Enjoy!!!!
Bunny Chow South Africa
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken thighs or breast cut in bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup canola or cooking oil
- 2-3 Curry leaves
- 1 teaspoons minced ginger
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon curry powder or more
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 medium tomatoes diced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 3 green cardamom pods lightly crushed
- 8 ounce or less potatoes cleaned and cut into cubes
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 11/2 cup or more chicken broth or water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- When ready to cook, heat up large Sauce- pan with oil, and add onions, garlic,ginger, cinnamon stick, curry leaves, cardamom pods and curry powder, stir occasionally for about 2-3 minutes until onions is translucent.
- Add tomatoes followed by chicken, stir and sauté for about 2-3 more minutes. Add chicken stock/ water if necessary to prevent any burns
- Next add chickpeas, potatoes and chicken broth , about 1 1 1/2 cup , add more as needed. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until sauce thickens, it might take about 25 minutes or more
- Adjust for salt, pepper and stew consistency.
Nutrition Information:
Ann-Cathrin Eide says
How do you prepare the bread in this disse? Just hollow the fresh bread an fill?or do you brush it inside and prebake to make it crisp and to not mske the bread soggy when stew goes in? Id love a “recipe ” for this too
Imma says
Yes, you got it. I like to hollow the bread, brush the inside with a little olive oil, and lightly toast it in the oven before filling it with stew. I serve it immediately so it doesn’t get too soggy and fall apart. Please let me know how you do it.
Craig Kaplan says
What brand of curry poweder do you suggest? There are so many out there that will change the taste.
Imma says
Yes, there are a lot of curry recipes out there. I make my own, but any good Caribbean mix will work.
https://www.africanbites.com/jamaican-curry-powder/
Cherise Moodley says
Pls can I have the recipe for the bread/bun used here.
Imma says
Oops! I actually used a store-bought round loaf, but you could do it with this recipe and bake it in a round baking dish. https://www.africanbites.com/no-knead-bread/
Ashok Taz says
This is truly awesome to eat. We make it only using vegetables as we are vegetarian. Also it’s a convenient meal/snack to make on a lazy afternoon to go with a cold beer. Definitely filling
ImmaculateBites says
Yes it is . Thanks for taking time out to share this with us.
Anita says
Hi there, going to try this but wondering if the curry leaves should be fresh or dried?
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Anita! Either works fine 🙂 Enjoy!
Dewaltd Gagiano says
Absolutely delicious!! My first time making a curry, first time making a bunny chow, and still the best bunny chow I’ve had so far. The only thing I left out was chickpeas, and I added some spring union on top.
Immaculate Bites says
Mmmm! Thank you for sharing, Dewaltd! 🙂
Darian Brett says
Nice recipe but the method forgot to mention the paprika listed in the ingredients
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Darian! You can add the paprika during sauteeing, that’s before adding the tomatoes and chicken. I hope this helps. 🙂
Sebastien Lorentz says
Yea as a South African I do find the inclusion of chickpeas, a bit questionable, Other than that it’s an interesting take on bunny chow, Definitely would not get any bunny chow like this here. Our bunny chow is a lot spicier than this, A lot bigger and uses a loaf of ’Government bread’ which is like cheap white bread, It’s normally sliced but for chow, you get it unsliced or you bake a simple quick sandwich bread. Well done!
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Sebastien!
Thanks for taking time out to share your thoughts with us.Good to know how the locals enjoy it in South Africa.
Kayla Dornan says
Hello, my name is Kayla. I have taken food preparation and nutrition for my GCSEs and I need to make two dishes from a country of my choice. I chose South Africa because a lot of my family lives there. I was wondering if you could recommend a few dishes that are high skill that could be completed in two hours. Thank you so much, I would appreciate it.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Kayla ,
Here are a few – https://www.africanbites.com/bobotie/. https://www.africanbites.com/chakalaka/ and this https://www.africanbites.com/milk-tart/.
Good luck with your research.