Bunny Chow

In Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible there is a recipe for Bunny Chow. You have to be intrigued by the name alone. What it is? Rabbit curry? Or curried lettuce and carrots? Well, it is neither of these. Instead it is a way of serving curried stuff in buns that originated among Indian migrants in South Africa. Here is a slightly adapted version of the recipe she gives (with no curry heat in it), and some ideas for toppings that she doesn't have. My personal feeling about Bunny Chow is that it is right up there with hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, souvlaki,, fish & chips, and Australian pies. Maybe a little messier to eat.

1/2 lb dried borlotti, pinto, kidney or other beans (or you can use canned beans, but I don't know how much)

1/2 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/4 t turmeric
1 t curry powder (I used a mild one since there are young kids in our house)

4 T oil (peanut, corn, canola, whatever)
1/2 t whole brown mustard seeds
1/2 t whole cumin seeds
1/2 whole fennel seeds
1 "medium" onion, sliced thin (someone has to tell me what onion sizes mean)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 t fresh ginger, minced
chopped tomatoes - fresh (about 6 oz), canned, or even some kind of tomato sauce (amount to taste .... but remember, you are not making a tomato sauce)
2 c of water, stock or liquid from the cooked beans (I will try beer next time)
salt
1/2 t garam masala

Crusty rolls or buns (maybe 6, see step 5 below)

1. Soak the beans overnight, drain and cook them until tender in whatever way you usually do. (I use a small amount of soda in the soaking water and new water for the cooking with a little olive oil, some sage and a tomato, cut up). Drain and reserve. (And I think reserved bean cooking water ought to be able to be used for the liquid in the sauce). Obviously you skip this if you have worked out how much canned beans to use.

2. Mix together in a small bowl the ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and curry powder.

3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a (non-stick if you can) pan that has a lid and that is big enough to take the beans comfortably, because you will add them later. When the oil is hot, put in the mustard, cumin and fennel seeds. After just a few seconds, add the onions. Stir and fry until they are just browning. Add garlic and ginger and continue frying and stirring for another minute. Add the ground spices from the bowl and stir for only about 10 seconds. Add the tomatoes and stir until they are softened. Then add the liquid (water or whatever), the salt, and the garam masala. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Add the beans to the sauce. Stir, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered over low heat for 20 minutes. Stir frequently and keep an eye on things, maybe even adding a little water if the mixture cooks too fast. You are aiming for a consistency that can be put into hollowed-out buns and eaten with the hands.

5. While the beans are cooking, split and hollow out those crusty rolls. How many you use depends upon how big the rolls are and how many you think will get eaten. Six, I think. Anyhow, what you are doing is making the rolls into bread pockets or Euro tacos. The bread you scoop out can be used in bread pudding sometime, or as thickening or as very big bread crumbs.

6. Serve by filling the hollowed out buns with a scoop of bean mixture, topped with something (or nothing) from below.

Toppings

"Pickles" (see below)
Bottled chutney
Yoghurt
Shredded lettuce
Etc.

Jaffrey says that "pickles" are an integral part of the Bunny Chow experience, but she does not say whether she means Indian pickles or western pickles. I imagine either (or both) would be good. Mango chutney is good too.

I have no idea why she doesn't mention yoghurt and/or shredded lettuce. They seem perfectly obvious to me and they are great here. You might also consider raita instead of plain yoghurt, shredded daikon radish, chopped or sliced fresh tomato - and so on.

Why don't Indian take-aways start serving Bunny Chow?