Africola by Duncan Welgemoed

Editor Keith Kendrick makes a South African classic from the cult chef’s new book

Bunny Chow is not rabbit food (as I fleetingly thought) but an extraordinarily rich and unctuous lamb neck curry served in a hollowed-out loaf of bread. It was invented by migrant workers in South Africa’s Kwazulu-natal as an ingenious way of ferrying their curries to work. It’s one of the loveliest curries I’ve made. Served in homemade sourdough, it’s a complete meal – you get to mop up the sauce, then eat the bowl! The dish is one of many fiery, flamboyant recipes in Duncan Welgemoed’s Africola cookbook. Others that took my fancy were peri peri chicken ‘better than N@ndhoes’, prawn jollof and deep-fried bologna.

Duncan may be unfamiliar to UK food lovers, but the South African-born chef has a cult following in Australia after opening his Africola restaurant in Adelaide in 2014. But it was the kitchens of the south of England where he cut his teeth. After arriving here at the age of

17, he got a job as a chef de partie. That led to stints at a clutch of Michelin-starred restaurants including Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck. He then moved to Adelaide and opened Africola because, ‘African food hadn’t really been done outside of suburbia, not because of a lack of skill in the kitchen, but because of what African food represents: nourishment, survival and love.’

It’s a manifesto that resonates particularly strongly at the moment and his intentions come through in the care given to these recipes. A great introduction to a lesser-known cuisine. 1 Heat the oil and ghee in a pan over a medium heat and fry the spices, bay and curry leaves until the spices sizzle. Add the onion and cook for 5-7 mins until translucent.

2 Stir in the curry powder and fry for a minute before stirring in the tomatoes. Add the bean paste. Cook over a medium heat, stirring often, until you have a sauce-like consistency.

3 Add the lamb, ginger, garlic and 300ml water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40-50 mins or until the meat is tender.

4 Add salt to taste and 200ml water. Continue simmering for about 15 mins until the meat is soft and fragrant.

5 Finish with a little sugar to taste and serve with hummus and pickled radishes, alongside rice, or in a hollowed-out loaf of bread.

GOOD TO KNOW iron

PER SERVING 792 kcals • fat 64g • saturates 30g •

carbs 8g • sugars 4g • fibre 4g • protein 44g • salt 1.4g