A Pretoria man’s dream of breaking a world record came true on Friday when he created an almost 16m-long bunny chow with a Guinness World Records certificate to prove it.
Kishore Ramharakh, who runs Bhai’s Lounge, now a venue in Centurion after the restaurant closed for good during the pandemic, said he decided on the challenge for fun.
“I looked at the previous record online and saw it was done in Salt Rock previously at 13.95m.”
And so the former Durban homeboy who moved to Gauteng in 2002 set in motion his plans to beat the record.
First he created a design for an oven big enough to bake the loaf and then tasked his welder Chris Brits with the job of making the custom build.
Next was the baking tin, which he also designed with collapsible walls to ensure the baked bread didn’t have to be moved onto another surface. Four 4m segments were manufactured in Durban and joined in Centurion to form a 16m loaf tin.
Ramharakh, who also runs a marketing company, said preparations began three weeks ago with meat and spices provided by local suppliers.
A team was assembled and the kitchen was built for the event, which was overseen by a professional chef and a Tshwane municipal official to comply with health and safety standards.
He said 12m of the bunny was filled with lamb curry and the remaining 4m contained sugar beans for vegetarians.
“We had two test bakes before the event to get the temperature correct and then bread dough perfect to hold the curry.
“It took three hours for mixing, proofing and baking the bread, three hours to cook the curry and then quite some time to cut out the sections of the loaf to fill in with curry.”
Ramharakh said there were three criteria to beat the record: the length, width and the form or ability of the bread to hold the curry for five minutes without breaking.
He made the lamb curry in two 20kg pots using his own recipe and says it was “delicious”.
The process was overseen by Guinness World Records representative Mbali Nkosi, who flew in from Dubai to adjudicate.
He said it took under three hours to cut and fill the loaf with curry and then measure the width at 2m intervals to clear the bar.
“It was agonising because the curry smelled so delicious and by the end of it we were starving. But it was all worth it when it was announced we had beaten the record.”
Ramharakh said while he invested a lot of money and time in the project, including paying the fee to bring out the Guinness World Records representative, he believed it was money well spent.
“The result was more than food — it was a symbol of South African flavour, unity and innovation. Beyond the numbers, what truly defined the day was the energy in the room — almost 100 family members, friends and supporters gathered not just to witness history, but to be part of it.
“This achievement places South Africa firmly on the global stage once again — not just for breaking records, but for celebrating culture, resilience and creativity. It was a team effort and this is what history feels like,” he said.
Among the guests was the previous record holder who happened to be in Gauteng. He’d heard about the attempt on radio and made contact with Ramharakh.
Ramharakh said they also attempted to beat the world record for the largest synchronised bhangra dance on Saturday, but they fell short of getting the numbers.
“We had a fusion bhangra dance choreographed with bhangra and amapiano moves, which was spectacular but only managed to get about 2,800 people when we needed to beat the record of 4,411.”
For now, that’s a record for another day.
Guinness World Records didn’t respond to queries.
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