Durban Bunny Chow
Chow down on this authentic South African street food, made as a vegetarian recipe with lentils, runner beans, sweet potato, onion, South African peaches and spices, served in a loaf of hollowed-out bread.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
2tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1tbsp freshly grated root ginger
3 tomatoes, chopped
400g can green lentils, rinsed and drained
80g runner beans or fine green beans, sliced
2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks
2tbsp chopped fresh coriander, plus sprigs to garnish
300ml vegetable stock
2 South African peaches, pitted and chopped
2tsp garam masala
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 crusty brown or white loaf
Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the cumin seeds, star anise and bay leaf for a few moments to release the flavours.
Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook gently for 2-3 minutes, until the onion has softened. Stir in the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, lentils, runner beans or green beans and chopped coriander. Add the stock and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 25 minutes, adding the South African peaches after 15 minutes, cooking until the sweet potato is tender. Check the seasoning and add garam masala, salt and pepper, to taste.
Slice the top from the loaf and remove most of the bread from inside (use as breadcrumbs in another recipe). Spoon the lentil mixture into the loaf and cut into quarters. Serve, garnished with coriander sprigs.
Cook’s tip: For a non-veggie version, stir in 200g of torn-up roast chicken breast at the same time as adding the peaches.
