Callaloo recipe

Dasheen leaves stewed down with okra, coconut milk and crab, then swizzled smooth - the okra is what gives Trinidad callaloo its body.

1 houreasy12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g dasheen leaves
• 10 okra
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 2 blue crab
• 200 g pumpkin
• 1 onion
• 3 clove garlic
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper
• 1 bunch thyme
• 1 bunch chives
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

How to make Callaloo

1. Wash 500 g of young dasheen (taro) leaves, strip out the tough stems and chop the leaves with the tender stems. Wear gloves if the raw leaves itch your hands.
2. Put the leaves in a heavy pot with 10 okra sliced into rounds, 200 g diced pumpkin, 1 chopped onion, 3 chopped garlic cloves, 3 chopped chives, 2 sprigs of thyme, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.
3. Pour in 400 ml coconut milk and 250 ml water, bring to the boil and lower to a simmer.
4. Add 2 cleaned blue crabs, or 250 g of salted pigtail boiled first to draw out the salt, and drop in 1 whole scotch bonnet - whole and unpierced, or the pot becomes inedible.
5. Simmer covered 35 minutes, until the leaves have collapsed and the liquid has reduced by about half.
6. Lift out the crab and the pepper. Swizzle the pot with a wooden swizzle stick, or use an immersion blender, until thick and smooth - callaloo is a puree, not a chunky greens dish.
7. Return the crab, check the salt and simmer 5 minutes more.
8. Serve it as a side with rice and macaroni pie, or over ground provisions.

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