Durban curry

How to cook… Spicy Fish Pie

Recipes

Serves 4 as a main dish

This is a spicy twist on the classic Fish Pie, combining white fish and prawns with spices and herbs and topped with Bengali mashed potato. Aloo Bhorta.

What you need…
• 1 recipe Aloo Bhorta
• 12 large prawns, deveined but not peeled
• 400ml milk
• 1 onion, sliced
• 400g white fish
• Small handful parsley, chopped
• 50g cream
• Salt to taste

Spice Mix
• 3 cloves
• 5 curry leaves
• 2 cardamons, cracked open but not crushed
• 5 peppercorns
• 1 dried red chilli
• Pinch of turmeric

For the sauce
• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour

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How to make it…
1. Cook the prawns in a little water in a pan until they turn pink (about 5 minutes). Allow to cool and peel. Set aside.
2. Heat the milk gently in a pan until it bubbles gently, add the Spice Mix and onion and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the fish and poach for until it is cooked through (about 7–8 minutes).
4. Add the fish to a baking dish of about 22cm x 22cm and flake it (any skin should peel off easily and you can discard this). Spread the prawns and the parsley evenly on top of the fish.
5. In another pan heat the butter to a medium heat, add the flour and mix for 1 minute.
6. Turn down the heat to low, add the milk (not the solids) bit by bit to the butter and flour. Add the cream and cook gently for 5 minutes, constantly mixing to avoid it sticking.
7. Add the solids (you can remove the whole spices if you don’t want them in the pie), warm through, then pour over the fish and prawns evenly. Add salt.
8. Spread the Aloo Bhorta evenly on top of the sauce.
9. Heat the oven to 200 C and cook for 30 minutes. The potato should be slightly browned on the top.

CHEF’S TIP
When spreading potato on the top start from the edges and work inwards making sure there are no gaps that allow the mixture to bubble through when cooking.

The Spicy Fish Pie, just before the Aloo Bhorta is spread across the top.

If you like this you should try our…
Sag Paneer • Chilli Paneer • Butter Chicken • Butter Paneer • Prawn Korma • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Chicken Dopiaza

This is a clever dish. It knows Pi to 50 decimal points.

How to cook… Vegetable Shashliks

Recipes

Makes 4 Shashliks

This mix of mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and onions, marinated in Tikka Marinade and grilled makes a fresh-tasting starter or you can double up the portion for tasty main dish. The trick is cook the Vegetable Shashliks just enough so they soften and the edges are charred.

What you need…
• 1 recipe Tikka Marinade (omit the water)
• 16 thick slices or chunks of mushroom
• 12 chunks of red pepper, about 3cm square (stab them a few times as this absorbs the marinade better)
• 12 chunks of green or yellow pepper, about 3cm square (stab them a few times as this absorbs the marinade better)
• 1 tomato, cut into 8 segments (stab them a few times as this absorbs the marinade better)
• Half an onion cut into chunks

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How to make it…
1. Slide the pieces, alternately, onto a skewer.
2. Coat all the pieces generously in Tikka Marinade. Leave for 30 minutes.
3. Grill the Shashliks, turning a couple of times, until they soften and start to char on the edges (about 15 minutes).
4. Serve with Mint Yoghurt Sauce.

CHEF’S TIP
Experiment with other vegetables of your choice.

If you like this you should try our…
Sag Paneer • Chilli Paneer • Butter Chicken • Butter Paneer • Prawn Korma • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Chicken Dopiaza

Why do stupid evil guys never climb hills? Because they don’t want to be a High, der, Baddie.

How to cook… Murgh Malaiwala

Recipes

Serves 4 as a main dish

Murgh Malaiwala, also called Malai Murgh, is a creamy chicken dish similar to Butter Chicken, but it is hotter, richer and uses no tomato. A Mughal-era dish, it uses whole spices for depth of flavours and plenty of chilli and pepper for heat.

What you need…
• 800g chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves
• 2 cardamons, cracked but not crushed
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 8 peppercorns
• 1.5 onions, finely chopped
• 2 chillies, sliced lengthways
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 0.5 teaspoon black pepper
• 250ml cream

Marinade
• 4 Tablespoons yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• Pinch turmeric
• Pinch chill powder

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How to make it…
1. Rub the chicken pieces with the lemon. This will degrease the chicken and help to absorb the Marinade.
2. Mix all the Marinade ingredients together and add the chicken to it, ensuring all the pieces re well covered. Set aside for 4 hours.
3. Heat the butter to medium heat and cook the cloves, cardamons, fenugreek seeds and peppercorns for 20 seconds, being careful not to burn them.
4. Turn down the heat, add the onion and fry until soft (about 5-7 minutes).
5. Add the chillies and fry for 20 minutes.
6. Add the chicken with the Marinade and fry until all the pieces are sealed (about 3 minutes).
7. Add the chilli powder, garam masala and pepper, mix well and fry for 3 minutes. Add a small amount of water if needed.
8. Add the cream and salt, and continue cooking until all the chicken pieces are cooked.

CHEF’S TIP
This dish is nice if garnished with some pre-fried onions.

If you like this you should try our…
Sag Paneer • Chilli Paneer • Butter Chicken • Butter Paneer • Prawn Korma • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Chicken Dopiaza

Why does everyone love refridgerated cream… Because it’s so cool.

How to cook… Bunny Chow

Recipes

Serves 2 as a main dish

It’s simple, it’s rustic and it’s tasty… it’s a Bunny Chow! You’ll find someone selling them on every street corner in Durban, South Africa. Ideal for that steamy tropical climate, yet also great comfort food for cold winters. Cut off the bottom of a loaf, scoop out the white stuff leaving a crust shell. Fill with hot chicken curry (don’t forget the sauce now), settle down and use the bread you scooped out to mop up and eat your curry. No cutlery permitted. Durbanite and Bunny Chow lover Richard says bunnies are best eaten sitting cross-legged while staring at the Indian Ocean with a bottle of ice-cold Coke by your side.

What you need…
• 1 loaf of bread (it is best to use a loaf that has been left a day since buying it so the edges harden up and the curry won’t leak out)
• 0.5 recipe Durban Chicken Curry (or any other curry of your choice)

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How to make it…
1. Cut the loaf in half and scoop out the bread to create a small “bread pots”.
2. Fill each hollowed out half with the curry, put the bread you scooped out on top (use this to mop up the curry as you eat) and serve with chilli and carrot sambals. Squeeze some lemon or orange on the carrots and eat towards the end of the meal to degrease your fingers, clear your palate and freshen up your breath.

* Note: this is a Half Bunny (so-called because it is served in half a loaf of bread. For the really hungry simply cut the top off the loaf and you have a Full Bunny. If you want a Quarter Bunny cut the loaf lower (although in reality this should more like a third as a quarter of a loaf is too small and will leak).

* When ordering a Bunny Chow locals would never mention it by name. They would just say: “Quarter beans,” or “Half chicken”. Simples.

CHEF’S TIP
If you cant wait a day for your bread to harden up then put it in the oven for a few minutes. This will crisp up the edges and stop the curry leaking out.
To make a Bunny Chow cut a loaf in half and remove the bread as shown above. Then fill with the curry of your choice.

If you like this you should try our…
Sag Paneer • Chilli Paneer • Butter Chicken • Butter Paneer • Prawn Korma • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Chicken Dopiaza

How do you transport a Bunny Chow? … by hareplane.

How to cook… Durban Chicken Curry

Recipes

Serves 4 as a main dish

Durban is often called the largest Indian city outside of India, with the South African city home to around 900,000 people of Indian descent. The first Indians arrived in the area that is now called Kwa-Zula Natal in the mid-1900s and it soon became the centre of curry in the country. People living in other cities frequently say they are visiting Durban to enjoy a “proper” curry. This chicken curry is lightly spiced and is ideal to be used in the city’s famous Bunny Chow, where a curry is put into a hollowed out loaf of bread and eaten with the hands.Durban is often called the largest Indian city outside of India, with the South African city home to around 900,000 people of Indian descent. The first Indians arrived in the area that is now called Kwa-Zula Natal in the mid-1900s and it soon became the centre of curry in the country. People living in other cities frequently say they are visiting Durban to enjoy a “proper” curry. This chicken curry is lightly spiced and is ideal to be used in the city’s famous Bunny Chow, where a curry is put into a hollowed out loaf of bread and eaten with the hands.

What you need…
• 350g potatoes (about 2 medium-sized potatoes), peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 600g chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Salt to taste
• Some coriander leaves to garnish

Spice Mix
• 5 curry leaves
• 6cm cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

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How to make it…
1. Boil the potatoes in water until they are almost cooked. Ensure they are not soft as they will be added to the main pot to boil a bit longer. Once they are ready remove from the hot water so they do not keep cooking.
2. Heat the oil to a high heat, add the Spice Mix and fry for 20 seconds being careful not to burn the spices.
3. Turn down the heat, add onions, ginger paste, garlic paste and curry leaves, and cook until the onions soften (about 8–10 minutes).
4. Add the tomatoes, garam masala and turmeric, mix well and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add the chicken, salt to taste and cook for 7 minutes. Add a little water if needed.
6. Add the potato and continue cooking until all the chicken pieces are cooked and potato pieces soft.
7. Garnish with coriander and serve.
• Recipe from information supplied by Awesome Creesen Naicker.

CHEF’S TIP
This is the perfect curry to put in a Bunny Chow but keep the sauce thick so it can be added to the hollowed out loaf without soaking through.

If you like this you should try our…
Sag Paneer • Chilli Paneer • Butter Chicken • Butter Paneer • Prawn Korma • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Chicken Dopiaza

Why do stupid evil guys never climb hills? Because they don’t want to be a High, der, Baddie.

Durban curried bar snack

Recipes

Richard, our Durban correspondent (South Africa’s tropical coastal city is home to the Bunny Chow) has reported on a new bar snack he has invented to go with stout or ale. These Durbanites certainly like everything curried.

1. Choose your own bread. Thick cuts of semi-wholewheat are recommended.
2. Add butter and the secret ingredient, a thick onion marmalade to the bread.
3. Add a thinly chopped mild curry achar.
4. Slap them together to create a sandwich.
5. Chow* down, washing every other mouthful down with a healthy swig of stout.

* Chow is a South African word meaning ‘eat’.

Recipe… Bunny Chow with Chicken Curry

Recipes

Right, now let’s get stuck in…

Bunny Chow with Chicken Curry
Serves 2

It’s simple, it’s rustic and it’s tasty… it’s a bunny chow! You’ll find someone selling them on every street corner in Durban, South Africa. Ideal for that steamy tropical climate, yet also great comfort food as the winter approaches in London. Cut off the bottom of a loaf, scoop out the white stuff leaving a crust shell. Fill with hot chicken curry (don’t forget the sauce now), settle down and use the bread you scooped out to mop up and eat your curry. No cutlery permitted.

Durbanite and bunny chow lover Richard says bunnies are best eaten sitting cross-legged while staring at the Indian Ocean with a bottle of ice-cold Coke by your side.

What you need
• 1 loaf of bread (it is best to use a loaf that has been left a day since buying it)
• 1/2 recipe Handi Chicken

How to make it
1. Cut the loaf in half and scoop out the bread
2. Fill each hollowed out loaf with the chicken