VEGGIE BUNNY CHOW

Bunnies are always eaten bare-handed, starting with the soft lid on top; breaking pieces off and using them to mop up the curry inside. Thereafter one pulls the bread, piece by piece, from the sides in a concentric circle, spiralling downwards to keep mopping up. The name ‘bunny’ derives from bania, the ethnic group of Indian businessmen who sold the bunnies, and ‘chow’, of course, is slang for food.

This bunny is filled with curried vegetables, mixed veg sambals and some pickles.

Makes two half-loaves

1 large onion, sliced

200g green beans, cut into 1cm pieces 2 hot green chillies, seeded and chopped 60ml (¼ cup) cooking oil

1 x 400g can chopped Italian tomatoes 2.5ml (½ tsp) ground turmeric

2.5ml (½ tsp) ground coriander

2.5ml (½ tsp) ground cumin

5ml (1 tsp) curry or chilli powder

5ml (1 tsp) finely grated fresh ginger

5ml (1 tsp) crushed garlic

2 large potatoes, cubed

125ml (½ cup) water

Salt to taste

1 x 400g can lentils

1 x 400g can cannellini beans

1 whole white government bread, halved

In a large pan, fry the onion and green beans, together with the chillies, in the oil until soft. Add the tomatoes and fry for a further 2-3 minutes. Stir in the turmeric, coriander, cumin, curry or chilli powder, ginger, garlic, potatoes, water and salt. Finally, add the lentils and beans (in their brine) and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes until some of the liquid reduces. Cover the pan and leave the curry to rest, to absorb all the wonderful flavours.

You are now ready to fill your scooped-out half-loaves of bread for a memorable bunny! If, however, you’d prefer something a little more ‘elegant’, you could use the curry as filling in miniature loaves or bread rolls.