If you had to ask a South African what food is quintessential to their homeland, odds are they are going to tell you about a ‘bunny chow’, regardless of their race or creed.
A humble loaf of bread filled with curry that transcended time and solidified its place as being part of South African culture, Durban more especially, due to the large population of Indian people.
But in a nest of bunny’s, how would you ever find the best?
This past Sunday, the final round of the Coca-Cola bunny chow challenge was held at Blue Lagoon where BP Express Chatsworth, a local service station, beat nine other eateries to emerge victorious.
IOL spoke to the owner of the store, Gregory Naidoo, about their victory and what it means for the business.
Naidoo, 52, who gave “all praise go to the almighty”, said he could not even fry an egg and all congratulations should go to the store manager Marylyn Pillay and Marlene Moodley, who both cooked the award winning curry.
Naidoo grew up in Chatsworth and worked for BP southern Africa for about 15 years before owning his own service station. Growing up, he said his favourite place to eat a bunny chow was at an eatery called “Princess”, which was based in Silverglen, Chatsworth.
Growing up in a community like Chatsworth, Naidoo said he understands the people he is trying to serve, who can be fussy at times, to say the very least, when it comes to food.
From numerous observations, one can decipher that Indian people are particular about the food they consume, even more so the ingredients that’s used to prepare it.
For instance, if the potatoes are not ‘up to date’ soft cookers and if the meat was not bought from B Nagiahs butchery, then it may be a problem.
They want to see if the potato is white on the inside and covered with the oil on the outside to signify a fresh curry.
Indian people also want to know what brand of cooking oil was used during the making of the curry. Where the dhania or ‘coriander’, as some may put it, was bought from and whether you are using “BB” bread.
Despite seeming like somewhat menial points to consider, these factors can make or break a buying decision when it comes to food.
Naidoo said all of this was taken into account when coming up with their winning formula, which was worked on for about six months before it was finished.
“We started making bunny’s in 2016. From that time, we always spoke to the customers and asked for their comments about our food. We focused mainly on the negative comments or criticism. This was because we wanted to use that information and perfect our recipe.
“If you are going to sell curry to an Indian person, it's difficult. You cannot mess around.
“I have to commend Marlene and Marylyn for doing all the work. They researched, and checked and checked again to make sure everything was in order. Me, I cannot even fry an egg, so I have to give all the credit to them,” Naidoo said.
Prior to BP Express winning the competition, there was no award winning bunny inside the Chatsworth community, and one would have to drive to commercial or industrial areas to find a good curry.
Naidoo said people in Chatsworth no longer need to travel as an award winning bunny is now at their doorstep.
“Most people order a takeaway because the store is located close to their homes. So we either have a deconstructed bunny, where we put the curry and bread separately before giving it to them or we can make the bunny chow and serve it to them in our box,” Naidoo explained.
Being in the fuel industry, Naidoo said it was a great accomplishment for his business to be recognised outside their scope of business, as food is not part of their core operation.
But after identifying a gap in the “hot foods” market, Naidoo said they made the decision to start selling bunny chows and have never looked back since.
IOL also spoke to one of the customers at the store, Kaylen Moodley, who came in to try the award winning bunny. Moodley said he saw the post about them winning the competition on Facebook and decided to give it a try.
Plans to expand the food business are under way, with more seating arrangements to come, Naidoo explained.
IOL