Beef Korma Bunny Chow

Bunny chow is a South African dish consisting of a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with curry. For this Korma recipe, beef chuck cubes are cooked in spices, a nut paste, yoghurt and cream. Each hollowed out loaf is then filled with curry and topped with toasted cashews and sprigs of coriander.

Beef Korma Bunny Chow

Recipe

Preparation: 1 hour

Cooking: 1 hour

Ready in: 2 hours

Variations: Substitute beef chuck with goulash or boneless shin

Servings: 4 to 6

Tips: To infuse even more flavour into the beef, marinate the chuck in the refrigerator for a few hours or even overnight.

INGREDIENTS

1kg beef chuck roast or cubes

3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and crushed

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 red or green chillies, finely chopped

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 cup beef stock

1 cup plain yoghurt

1/2 cup fresh cream

2 loaves unsliced white bread

Fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

1⁄3 cup cashew nuts, toasted and roughly chopped for garnish

Korma paste:

Vegetable oil

4 whole cloves

3 cardamom pods

3 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 Tbsp black peppercorns

2 tsp fennel seeds

3 onions, thinly sliced

5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

Nut paste:

1⁄2 cup cashew nuts

1⁄2 cup almonds

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

METHOD

1. Slice the beef chuck into 2cm cubes. In a bowl, coat the beef with the crushed garlic and ginger, lemon juice, season with salt and leave to marinate until needed (the longer the better).

2. To make the Korma paste, heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and fry the paste spices for about 2 minutes. Stir in the onions and roughly chopped ginger and garlic and cook for about 30 minutes or until deeply caramelised.

3. In the meanwhile, blend the cashew nuts, almonds, poppy seeds and approximately 1/3 cup of water in a food processor/blender to make a smooth purée and set aside. This step can also be done by hand using a pestle and mortar.

4. Remove the Korma paste mixture from the saucepan, purée in a food processor/blender with 1⁄3 cup of water and set aside until needed.

5. Pour a few more tablespoons of oil into the same saucepan and turn the heat up to high. Fry the Korma paste and fresh chillies for about 5 minutes or until the oil separates and then stir in the paprika, cumin, and turmeric and cook for a further minute.

6. Add the chuck cubes to the pot coating the beef in the spices and sauté for a few minutes to evenly brown the beef.

7. Mix in the beef stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a medium-low heat for 45 minutes or until the meat is really tender and the sauce has thickened.

8. Mix in the nut paste and yoghurt and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in the cream, taste the sauce and season accordingly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

9. Cut each loaf of bread widthways into two or three even pieces, depending on the number and size of servings required. Hollow out the centre of each piece leaving a thick wall of bread at the base and spoon in the beef korma.

10. Top with fresh coriander and roughly chopped cashew nuts and serve immediately.

Recipe developed and styled for Karan Beef's Beef Easy app.

Photographed by James Strack.

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