Advertising promotion

The days are short and the nights are long – the first bite of winter has already set in and your soul is craving something that warms you from within. Spicy foods, of course, provide actual heat, but it’s more than those warm mouthfuls that you’re after, isn’t it?

That’s a universal craving, felt from the bustling streets of Durban in South African to Morocco up north.

What we need is something that transforms the chill into comfort. A kind of solace on those cold, cold nights, where that heat spreads through your chest like internal sunshine.

Lamb curry bunny chow

Try this lamb curry bunny chow. Born in Durban in the 1940s, a bunny chow is a hollowed loaf of white bread cradling a rich, aromatic lamb curry, like we've made made using Woolworths’ Cape Malay curry and mother-in-law spice mixes.

The bread soaks up the curry's complex gravy and provides the perfect balance. However, it doesn’t detract from the much-desired heat and deep, warming embrace of this traditional South African curry.

Bunny Chow

Spicy Moroccan chicken-and-pumpkin soup

Travel north to Morocco, where harissa originated. It's made using chillies, garlic, caraway, coriander and more, just like Woolworths’ harissa blend. Here, we've brushed it onto naan and paired it with a flavourful curried soup made with Woolworths Moroccan rub and mild curry powder.

The soup offers immediate warmth, awakening the senses radiating a comforting glow.

With these recipes – and the right spices – it doesn’t matter where you are, the warmth we crave when temperatures drop is but a teaspoonful away. You can create the kind of nourishing heat that makes winter something to savour, not something to endure.

Spicy Moroccan chicken-and-pumpkin soup

Find more winter dishes here

Photography: Sadiqah Assur-Ismail and Shavan Rahim

Videography: Sadiqah Assur-Ismail and Romy Wilson

Recipes and production: Abigail Donnelly and Marcelle van Rooyen

Food assistant: Bianca Jones

Looking for a little extra flavour and kick? Make your meals tastier using flavour-packed seasonings and herbs from Woolworths.

Shop at Woolworths