Ducana recipe

Antiguan parcel of raw grated sweet potato and grated coconut, tied in banana leaf and boiled in water until firm.

1 hour and 35 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 700 g grated sweet potato
• 150 g grated coconut
• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 120 g brown sugar
• 60 g raisins
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 100 ml water
• 8 banana leaves

How to make Ducana

1. Peel and coarsely grate 700 g of raw white-fleshed sweet potato, the boniato kind with reddish skin. Raw and grated, never boiled and mashed: those shreds are the whole texture of ducana.
2. Add 150 g of fresh grated coconut. Coconut milk alone does not replace it, the grated flesh is what you should feel between your teeth.
3. Stir in 150 g of flour, 120 g of brown sugar, 60 g of raisins, 1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of grated ginger, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
4. Add 60 to 100 ml of water a splash at a time until the mixture is thick and sticky and holds on the spoon. Runny batter leaks out of the leaf.
5. Pass 8 squares of banana leaf over a flame or dip them in hot water so they become pliable.
6. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons onto each leaf, fold into a tight parcel and tie with string or strips of leaf.
7. Lower the parcels into a large pot of boiling salted water and boil 40 to 45 minutes, until firm to the touch. Boiled, submerged, not steamed.
8. Drain and open them hot. Eat with saltfish and chop-up, or cold the next day, sliced and fried.

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