Well folks, we are virtually on the Eve of Father’s Day 2025 and for this week’s edition of “What’s Cooking” we are offering something that young kids – especially daughters – could spoil their fathers with. At the Professional Cooking Academy our host is lecturer Melissa du Plessis who surely knows her way around the kitchen.
On the menu thus – Chicken bunny chow…
Ok – here we go with the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 kg deboned chicken thighs cut into pieces
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 tbsp crushed ginger/garlic
1 sprig curry leaf
2 large tomatoes blanched and grated
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leafs
2-star aniseed
2 cardamom pods
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp masala
1/2 tsp whole fennel
2 cups water
4 potatoes cut into medium sized cubes
3 tbsp full cream plain yogurt
2 tsp Maizena with 2 tbsp water (slurry)
Fresh coriander leaves to garnish
Method:
Heat oil. Add the cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, star aniseed and cardamom pods and fry until fragrant. Add onion and curry leaf and sauté until onion is golden brown. Add ginger/garlic paste. Add the masala, cumin, coriander, garam masala, fennel, turmeric and tomato and fry for a minute. Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the chicken and potatoes and pour the rest of the water over and season with salt. Gently mix and turn heat down to the lowest setting and cook for 30- 35minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Stir in the Maizena slurry and gently simmer until sauce has thickened. Stir in the full cream yogurt. Cut open your bread loafs and hollow out. Fill with chicken curry add a dollop of yogurt on the top and garnish with coriander.
Bunny Chow Buns
Of course it’s easier to buy your buns at the grocer around the corner but for those who want to bake their own – here is how to do it:
Ingredients:
½ sachet (5g) Yeast
375g white Bread Flour
5g salt
7g sugar
5g butter
250-300ml water
Method:
Grease 4 ramekins and set aside. Mix yeast, sugar and 100ml warm water. Allow 5 minutes for yeast to activate. It should bubble. Add flour, salt, butter and enough warm water to form a soft dough. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place and allow to rise and double in size (30-60 min). Divide dough into 4 equal parts and roll into balls, place into ramekins and cover loosely with cling film. Let rise for 30 min in warm place. Meanwhile, switch oven on to 180°C. After dough has risen, bake for 30-40 minutes.
