It was about 10 am in the morning. A mate of mine and I sat on the edge of a local dam under a flat crown, which did it’s best to shield us from the mid morning coastal sun. It had been an unsuccessful fishing morning for me (no surprise there), and I was starving having launched in my fishing ski at 5 am without breakfast. I salivated as I lifted that government standard white bread goodness to my lips. The mutton curry gravy spilled over the edge a little.. and I let it drip onto my fingers. There was not a word uttered and we chowed those bunnies flat in less than 10 min. It was delicious. The burn was good, and brow perspiration joined the sea salt on our skin as we sat there contemplating the awesomeness that was our lives in that moment.
Later that morning, after curry gravy had been washed from much of the lower part of my face, and while holding the phone to my ear and convincing the world (especially those in Joburg) that I had been at my desk since 7am, I started to feel a warm glow in the middle of my chest. I smiled as I remembered those curry bunny moments.
Ten minutes later the glow had increased in intensity to a red hot zone of discomfort. The smile became a grimace. Ten after that and my chest was a molten lava pit of pain that threatened to engulf my very soul! I remember chewing Rennies and visualising water droplets hitting the middle of mount doom as the pain subsided for a moment, then the Rennies relief sizzled out, and the pain came back with a vengeance. Finally my system triumphed, the heartburn receded and normal digestive operations were engaged. Normal that is.. until the curry bunny needed to exit the digestive tract…but thats a story for another time.
Since that day my high veld, “mild please with some cucumber and yoghurt” system has been in training. I can smash a Cindy’s Samoosa or six without batting an eye lid and I regularly hit one of the chicken and prawn curry hotspots that we are blessed to have in abundance on our coastline. And most times a gaviscon before bedtime is all thats needed to survive the digestion thereof. But when time, kids, and cash get in the way of our quest for curry it is nice to have a quick and easy “Curry Bunny Fix” home recipe to fall back on…
So I got my mum into the kitchen (the source of all of my culinary interest and skill) and after cribbing from various recipe books we developed an easy to reproduce option that can be completed in 30 min:
Here is : Chris’s Bean Curry Bunny Recipe : A base recipe ready for modifications (like adding meat/chicken/prawns etc etc) :
1 onion, chopped
2 whole green chillies
1 red chilli
(Practice caution. Not every chilli is born equal. And always, always wash your hands after chopping chilli. Try not to touch any sensitive skin. Anywhere. For a few hours. Trust me.)
¼ cup oil
2 tomatoes, chopped
½ tsp each turmeric, coriander seeds, cumin powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
Dash of water
Salt and Pepper
1 cup broad beans boiled until soft (or if you are pushed for time a tin – but wash off the bean juice before adding)
The Pick’nPay at the Junction in Ballito had the perfect white bread. The crust was hard enough to prevent leaking, crispy on the outside for additional grip even and soft, white and fluffy on the inside.
Method:
Gently fry onion and chillies in oil until softened and aromatic.
Add tomatoes.
Add spices and a splash of water.
Continue cooking until spices have melded with tomato.
Add this mixture to beans, with a little more water if necessary.
Cook gently until gravy is thick.
Cut about a third off the loaf. Dig out the soft inner of the smaller piece and try and keep the fluffy part in one piece for additional gravy dipping while devouring.
Pour the Curry into the bread, place the inner bread on top, find a good spot that might allow a messy chow down and …well chow down. Mmm. Curry Bunny is awesome.
