bunny chow, noun phrase

Origin:
Hindi, Gujerati, English, ChineseShow more bunny probably adaptation of Hindi banya, from Gujerati vaniya one of a Hindi caste of merchants and traders + chow food (colloquial English, from Chinese); see G. Varma quotation 1984.
A take-away food consisting of a hollowed-out half-loaf of bread filled with vegetable or meat curry. Also attributive.
Note:
Especially common in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal).
1972 Notice in shop window, DurbanBunny chow 20 cents.
1979 Darling 4 Apr. 68Take-aways:..Middle Class — Chinese, pizza, Kentucky fried. Lower Class — Bunny chow, hot chips.
1982 J. Reddy in Staffrider Vol.5 No.1, 10He stood there dipping bits of bread into the bunny chow. The hollowed out bread filled with thick, spicy bean curry, tasted delicious.
1984 G. Varma in Daily News 16 Jan.Your readers may be interested to know that this tavern (sc. the Queen’s) gave birth to the ‘Bunny Chow’...I asked a friend to bring some lunch for me. Since we had no containers, I asked him to cut the bread at the crust,..scoop out the soft portion and fill it with curry...In those days all Gugerati Hindu businessmen were called ‘Banias’, so we called our take-away lunches ‘Bunia Chow’. On my return to Durban in 1981 after an absence of over 25 years, I noted ‘Bunny Chow’ had become a household name.
1984 S. Afr. Digest 16 May 1Bunny chow, the most popular food at many Durban take-aways today. All the bunny chow maker does is to dig out the inner, soft part of a loaf of bread and fill the hollow with curry.
1986 Cape Times 15 Jan. 7That old Cape favourite Bunny-Chow — a loaf of bread stuffed with snoek or curry.
1986 Fair Lady 5 Mar. 24The shared act of eating anything from pizza to a bunny chow (although those are rather better with beer) is..sensual.
1992 Handbill, GrahamstownNow open. Houston’s take-aways...Toasted sandwiches...Bunny chows...Samp & Beans.
A take-away food consisting of a hollowed-out half-loaf of bread filled with vegetable or meat curry. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19721992

Browse Related Words

By Category

Foods and Dishes

By Origin

Hindi
Gujerati
bungi, nounn.burgermeester, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English