This recipe from  renowned cook and food writer Ilse van der Merwe’s award-winning book Timeless South African: Celebrating 101 Iconic Dishes, pays homage to the classic bunny chow, filled with Durban bean curry. 

INGREDIENTS

Note: To save time, canned beans can also be used. Substitute 2 cans of drained canned beans for the uncooked beans listed below. 

Makes 2 large half-loaf bunnies (or 4 medium quarter-loaf bunnies) 

500 g dried beans (butter beans / broad beans / sugar beans)

2 litres (8 cups) water

125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 sticks cinnamon

15 ml (1 Tbsp) yellow or black mustard seeds

3 cloves garlic, crushed or grated

30 ml (2 Tbsp) ginger, crushed or grated

1–2 green chillies, chopped (optional)

4 Tbsp (¼ cup) mixed masala (or all-purpose masala)

5 ml (1 tsp) ground turmeric

3 large ripe tomatoes, halved and grated from the inside (skins discarded)

about 20 curry leaves

salt, to taste

1 soft white bread loaf 

a small handful fresh dhania (coriander leaves) roughly chopped 

1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly grated (optional) 

¼ cucumber, finely sliced (optional)

METHOD

• To a large pot, add the beans and cover with the water. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 1 hour. 
• Remove the pot from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes, then return to the heat and simmer until tender (about another hour), 

• Drain and set aside. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat and fry the onion until it starts to soften. 
• Add the cinnamon and mustard seeds and continue to fry until the onion starts to turn golden. 
• Add the garlic, ginger, chillies, masala and turmeric and stir for a minute. Add the tomatoes and curry leaves, stir well, and bring to a simmer. 
• Season with salt to taste. 
• Add the cubed potatoes and water, stirring, then bring to a slow simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes, partly covered with a lid until the potatoes are tender. 
• Add the cooked beans, then bring to a slow simmer for another 10 minutes. 
• Slice the loaf in half in the width and use your hand to hollow out the centres, leaving the crusts intact. 
• Scoop the warm curry into the hollow of each bread ‘cup’, making sure to fill it generously with some of the sauce spilling over the sides. 
• Serve scattered with dhania, with the hollowed-out chunk of bread for dunking, optionally with a simple side of grated carrot and cucumber. 

It is most definitely eaten by hand – simple, flavourful, messy and interactive. 

*Timeless South African: Celebrating 101 Iconic Dishes by Ilse van der Merwe is published by Penguin Random House South Africa. Buy it now.