South African Bunny Chow – Veganized!

This week for BM 36, I chose Street Foods of the world. I searched for a few and then remembered I had some bookmarked! I gladly struck out a few from my bookmark list which is growing by the day!

Bunny Chow or Bunny / Kota  as it also called is a fast food from South Africa. It is said to originate from Durban. This recipe is said to have been ‘invented’ by the Indian immigrants in South Africa and this was a food stuff that was carried to to work.

This was supposed to be a replacement of the regular Dal and Roti and it was also a convenient and non messy way of carrying their lunch. Bread loaves are hollowed out and filled with a curry and capped the filling with the cut out portion.

Bunny Chow is a popular street food and hence it finds a place in this series. Usually mutton,chicken or other meat gravies are used as filling. Since this is a dish with an Indian origin, I used Chickpeas gravy as a filling.

The bread soaks up the gravy and the chickpeas adds volume to the dish,making it a filling meal!I could not find bread loaves that were not sliced and also large buns were out of stock in the bakery nearby. So I used these mini buns.

I used:

Chickpeas- 1 cup, soaked over night [If you forget to soak it , put it in a casserole / hotbox filled with boiling water.The chickpeas will be ready to be pressure cooked within 4-5 hours]
Onion-1 , sliced
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil-1 teaspoon

For masala paste

Tomato-1,chopped
Pearl onion / Shallots- 10
Red chili powder- 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
Oil-1 teaspoon

Coriander leaves to garnish

Buns

Mint leaves to garnish

1. Drain the water used to soak the chickpeas and pressure cook them with enough water till done.
2. Saute with a little oil the toamto and onion mentioned under masala paste. When the onion is soft and tomato is mushy, add the chili powder and coriander powder and saute till the raw flavor of the masala powder is gone.Cool and grind to a  fine paste adding a little water.
3. Heat oil in a pan and put in mustard seeds and cumin.
4. When it splutters, add the onion and saute till it is soft.
5. Then add the ginger garlic paste, the ground masala paste and cook for a few minutes.
6. Then add the boiled chickpeas and enough water to bring it to the gravy consistency. It should not be very watery though.
7. Add salt and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

To assemble…

Cut off the top portion if the bun and hollow it out. Place the chickpea filling serve as such garnished with a mint leaf or cap it up with the cut of portion of the bun and take along.

Take a look at the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM #37

This day That year…

2013 – Ogarnay Anna – Seasoned Rice
2012 – Manathakkali Vartal Podi – Black nightshade Lentil Spice Mix
2011 – Arisi Vatral – Sun dried Rice Crisps
2010 – Fruit Relish
2009 – Veggie Chapathi
2008 – Idli Upma

Bon Appetit…