What is bunny chow? Where to find the best South African-style curry bread

THE DISH

Bunny Chow, South Africa

PLATE UP

There's so much to love about bunny chow, the South African-Indian dish of curry in bread. This is food of the people, a dish that is cheap and simple and eaten with relish particularly in its home town of Durban, though in other parts of South Africa and even Zimbabwe as well. Picture a loaf of plain white bread, your average Tip Top variety, which is sliced in half, width-wise, and has its fluffy white filling torn out. That creates a well, which is then filled to the brim with curry – traditionally a vegetable curry, though more popularly with lamb or chicken – topped with a hat of fluffy bread innards, served with a small salad and pickles. To eat, tear off the bready walls and scoop out the curry. Behold: bunny chow.

FIRST SERVE

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that bunny chow is the work of Indian migrants, who came to Durban in the 1940s and dealt with the lack of roti bread available by using the cheap, white loaves that were ubiquitous at the time. There are various origin stories, from bunny chow's creation by a single restaurant in Durban, to Indian labourers using hollowed-out bread to transport their midday meal.

ORDER THERE

You have to go to Durban to eat true bunny chow. Probably the most famous spot for it is Cane Cutters (canecutters.com), a quintessentially Durban-Indian eatery with "bunnys" that range from veg, to trotters and beans, to a fancier prawn bunny.

ORDER HERE