Bunny chow (South African curry bread bowl)

Ingredients

• 1 large crusty white loaf (a day old is best)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tin (400 g) chopped tomatoes
• 600 g mutton or lamb shoulder, diced
• 500 ml beef or lamb stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh coriander, chopped

Method

1. Heat oil in a heavy pot. Brown the mutton on all sides. Remove.
2. Soften onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, all the spices and tomato purée. Cook 2 minutes.
3. Add chopped tomatoes, stock, bay leaf. Return mutton. Cover and simmer 45 minutes until the mutton is very tender and the sauce thick.
4. Season to taste. Stir in fresh coriander.
5. Cut the loaf into 4 chunks. Hollow out each chunk, leaving a thick bread shell.
6. Ladle the curry into the hollowed loaves. Eat by tearing off pieces of the bread shell and dipping into the curry.

Tip: The bread shell is half the dish — soak up the curry with it. Don’t skip tearing and dipping.