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South African Lamb Bunny Chow

Well, that’s a mouth full, isn’t it? And for those who don’t know, don’t worry – no bunnies are harmed in the making of this South African Lamb Bunny Chow curry. Why it’s called a bunnychow I couldn’t tell you, but since it’s #NationaCurryWeek, I wanted to share a delicious curry recipe with you, made with succulent, tender Welsh lamb.

When I decided I was going to make a bunny chow for my #NationalCurryWeek contribution, I Googled Bunny chow recipes, and one of the first that came to my attention was this one, from my countryman Jeanne from Cooksister, on whose blog you can also read all about the origins and intricacies of this street food dish, while Lavender & Lovage has a different origin story with her chicken bunny recipe here.

Lamb Bunny Chow

One thing I know for sure about curries is that everyone’s tastes differ, even within our own family, so I’ve made a few adaptations, and Thermified the recipe too.

I would definitely recommend that you start this dish off by making your own Garam Masala. I think a fresh batch makes all the difference.  Adjust the curry depending on how hot you like it – I feed two small children, so we don’t make it hot at all. You can even add chillies.

Traditionally you would use a square unsliced bread for the ‘bowl’, but we use whatever bread we have. In the photos we’ve used French bread sticks for smaller meals, and individual giant rolls for bigger meals. I don’t think the bread matters too much, in reality.

If memory serves, you can make a bunny with chicken, lamb, pork or rabbit, as well as beans or root vegetables.

South African (Welsh) Lamb Bunny Chow
Recipe Type: Curry
Cuisine: South African, Street Food
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 servings
The amount of curry you use in this will depend on how hot you like it. I feed two small children so we only add just about a teaspoon, but you can add more or less. My dad also adds chillies from his garden.
Ingredients
  • 10g ginger
  • 10g garlic
  • 1 medium onion
  • 15g vegetable oil
  • 5 – 20g curry powder, depending on how hot you like it
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 4 green cardamom pods, seeded
  • 5g ground turmeric
  • 200g water
  • 1x400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 3-4 potatoes (1 per person, basically)
  • 1kg lamb, cubed
  • 15g Garam Masala
  • Salt
  • a small loaf of bread per 2 people
  • Fresh coriander
Instructions
  1. Lightly brown lamb on the hob if you like
  2. Dice the lamb and the potatoes
  3. Add garlic and ginger to the Thermomix bowl 10 seconds/ speed 5
  4. Add onion 5 seconds/speed 4
  5. Add 15g vegetable oil and sauté 3 mins/90C/speed 2
  6. Add the curry powder, cinnamon, cardamom pods, and turmeric and saute for a further 1 min/90C/speed 2
  7. Add tomato, water and potatoes and cook for 20 mins/Varoma/REVERSE speed 2
  8. Add lamb and garam masala and cook for a further 10 mins/100C/ REVERSE speed 2
  9. While the curry is cooking, cut the bread in half, and scoop out the soft centre
  10. Butter it if you want to – this is contestable, some of our family swear by it, some say it’s sacrilege
  11. When the curry is cooked, taste and season if required
  12. Scoop the curry into the hollowed out bread, scatter fresh coriander, and replace the bread on top
  13. Serve while still warm

The Welsh Lamb in this Lamb Bunny Chow was provided to me as part of a promotion to promote Welsh Lamb

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Five South African Freedom Day Celebration Foods

freedom day foods

On the 27th of April, it’s Freedom Day in South Africa, marking the years since our country’s first democratic elections in 1994. One of the many things that make South Africa stand out from other countries, is our rich and exciting, somewhat exotic – monkey gland sauce, anyone? – cuisine.

freedom day foods

Below are five recipes perfect for this time of the year, since they’re about as comfort food as you can get!

Vetkoek

Vetkoek

Vetkoek is about as Afrikaans South African as food gets. There’s no end to options for fillings, but our favourites include jam, mince or cheese. 

Fried bread, essentially, these can be made ahead of time, then fried before eating,  but they’re delicious cold the next day too. 

Bobotie

South African Bobotie

This Bobotie recipe is quite popular among readers, and even non-South Africans will often ask for the recipe. This one is quite mild as I feed two little girls, but you can add spices to it if you like.

It’s another great make ahead recipe as you can freeze it at a point, then defrost, add the topping and bake when you’re ready.

It’s good stuff, filling and oh so comforting. It was also recently featured in The 4 Blades Magazine, where it received rave reviews.

Peppermint Crisp Tart

Peppermint Crisp Pie

Peppermint Crisp Tart is a uniquely South African dish since the only place you can buy Peppermint Crisp is in South Africa, or a South African shop or on Amazon. Since Peppermint Crisp is a Nestle product, however, we don’t buy it anymore, but there are perfectly suitable substitutions, and anyone who tastes our Peppermint Crisp tart comes back for more.

This recipe caused a bit of a fuss recently, and it turns out there are as many opinions on how it’s ‘supposed’ to be made as there are people making it. I think that’s a sign of a truly adaptable, traditional family recipe.

Anyway, take a dish of this to a Freedom Day braai (bbq) and no one’s going to be arguing semantics – they’ll be too busy licking their fingers, I promise.

Onion Soup

Onion Soup

Whether this recipe is traditionally South African, or traditionally my mothers, I can’t say. It was scribbled in her recipe book, and was always used as the base for her Vranameer Chicken (recipe below), and as such forms a part of my South African food history.

This Onion Soup  is actually called a Brown Onion Soup, but she had it written down as French Onion Soup. It’s not really a French Onion Soup though, as there’s no bread or cheese involved.

It’s just a cheap, tasty, budget soup.

Vranameer ChickenVranameer Chicken

And finally, a recipe that tweaks my heart a little, as it’s the one my mother is most known for – Vranameer Chicken. That translates to ‘ask for more’ chicken, because everyone comes back for seconds.

The recipe is still on my original blog, I haven’t put it on here yet. It’s still good though.

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Thermomix Bobotie

In a home with children there are so many fun and celebratory dates in March, (St David’s Day, 1st, Dr Seuss birthday, 2nd, World Book Day, 5th, St Patrick’s Day, 17th) and I think it’s a great thing, because as Mothering Sunday (15th, this year) etches nearer, my heart grows heavier, and as the 1st of April approaches, I feel downright sad, thinking of my mother’s birthday.South African Bobotie Recipe

One of the things that I think about when I think about my mom is life as I knew it, growing up as a child in South Africa, so this month I’m paying homage to my mom, and to my history, and taking the time to convert some of the nation’s favourite recipes from her old and tattered recipe book to Thermomix recipes too.

There are a lot of Bobotie recipes online, and despite BBC Good Food’s instructions, it’s NOT pronounced bo-boor-tie, but bo-boo-tie. No R, please. The double ‘o’ is like the o’s in moor.

But yes, there are a hundred adaptations available online. This one is what I consider the original though. It’s from Magdaleen van Wyk’s The Complete South African Cookbook  published in 1980. It’s a very mild bobotie, and while it’s absolutely delicious as is – and even better reheated the next day – we double the spices (flavour, not heat).

South African Bobotie Recipe

Bobotie
Recipe Type: TM31, Main Meal
Cuisine: South African
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Bobotie freezes really well. Make it up to the end of step 5, then freeze. To prepare, thaw, and add the eggs, milk and bay leaves before baking.
Ingredients
  • 1 slice white bread
  • 1 onion
  • 90g blanched almonds
  • 65g seedless raisins
  • 1 tbs apricot jam (we adjust to 2)
  • 1 tbs fruit chutney (we adjust to 2)
  • 1kg minced beef
  • 25g lemon juice
  • 2 tsp curry powder (we adjust to 3)
  • 1 tsp turmeric (we adjust to 2)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 125g milk (plus about 60g)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C
  2. Soak the bread in half (125ml) the milk. Add the onion to the Thermomix bowl and chop speed 5/10 seconds
  3. Add whole almonds and chop speed 5/ 10 seconds (adjust if using crushed or sliced almonds)
  4. Add raisins, half the mince, jam, chutney, lemon juice, curry powder, turmeric and salt.
  5. Squeeze the milk out the bread and add bread to bowl
  6. Mix REVERSE BLADES/speed 3/ 45 seconds.
  7. In a large frying pan, I use a wok, melt the butter and add the meat mixture AND THE REST OF THE MEAT to it, and brown lightly, (don’t overcook) before turning it out into a casserole dish.
  8. Break the eggs into the Thermomix and pour the bread milk in, and top up to 125g. Mix speed 5/10 seconds, then pour over the meat. Garnish with the bay leaves.
  9. Bake for about 50 minutes or until golden brown.

 

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South African Peppermint Crisp Pie

Peppermint Crisp Pie

Peppermint Crisp Pie is an old favourite for me. It is rich and creamy and comforting, a little reminder of a once-was-home, of my mother, and of many a dinner party, barbeque or braai where it’s been consumed with gusto. The main problem with this recipe however, is that most of it’s parts are – originally – Nestle products, and we are Nestle boycotters, so for many years I stopped making it.Peppermint Crisp Pie

 

These days, however, I’ve found some pretty decent substitutes and I’m happy making it again. This recipe is very forgiving. If you get the amounts slightly wrong, it won’t matter too much. While you can serve and enjoy Peppermint Crisp Pie immediately, making it the day before is ideal as it allows the moisture to soak into the biscuits and gives you more of a firm pudding. Either way, it’s moreish.

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Peppermint Crisp Pie
Recipe Type: Desert, Pudding, Sweet
Cuisine: South African
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 pack [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003N7QNU8/tag=diaofafirchi-21″ target=”_blank”]Tennis Biscuits [/url]
  • 2 cups/ 500g fresh cream
  • 1x 397g tin of Caramel (or Condensed Milk)
  • 200g mint chocolate (traditionally[url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003N7USJA/tag=diaofafirchi-21″ target=”_blank”] this one[/url], but I prefer [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00E5XI6T0/tag=diaofafirchi-21″ target=”_blank”]Green & Blacks[/url] from an ethical point of view
Instructions
  1. If you’re not using caramel, place the condensed milk in a pot of water and boil for three hours. Allow to cool completely (preferably overnight. If you use hot caramel the whole desert will be ruined.)
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Break the chocolate into blocks and place in the Thermomix bowl. Speed 7/10 seconds
  2. Wash & dry the bowl and add the butterfly and then the cream
  3. Whisk the cream for 1 – 3 minutes, depending on how fresh it is. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want butter. Speed 4/ 1 – 3 minutes.
  4. Add the caramel and two-thirds of the chocolate and mix speed 1/ 30 seconds – just enough to mix but not to whisk again.
  5. Add a layer of biscuits to the base of a glass dish.
  6. Add about a quarter of the cream mixture above the biscuits and spread it evenly.
  7. Add another layer of biscuits
  8. Add another layer of cream, and repeat until it’s all finished.
  9. End on a layer of cream, and sprinkle the remaining chocolate
  10. Cover and refrigerate till it’s ready to be eaten.
Regular Instructions
  1. Grate the chocolate
  2. Place the biscuits in a shallow glass dish
  3. Beat the double cream till it is stiff, then add most of the grated chocolate and caramel and stir in gently. If you beat it again, the cream will fall flat and won’t set properly.
  4. Spoon a layer of the cream mixture on to the biscuits, then add another layer of biscuits, topped again with the cream. Repeat the process 3 or 4 times, depending on the depth of your dish.
  5. Finish with the cream mixture and sprinkle with chocolate.
  6. Place in the fridge for an hour to set, and keep refrigerated.