My Trinidad

Photo by Joel Brooks
Callaloo is a type of soup. The main ingredient is a leafy vegetable, traditionally either amaranth (known by many local names including callaloo or bhaaji), or taro or Xanthosoma species (both known by many names including callaloo, coco, tannia, bhaaji, or dasheen bush). It is a delight to the tastebuds and it will warm you up on a cold day.

Recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped celery
1/4 cup fresh thyme
1/2 cup chopped chives
15 okra, sliced
1/2 cup chopped west indian pumpkin (substitute butternut squash)
15-20 dasheen leaves, washed and coarsely chopped (or 1 bunch swiss chard and 1/2 bunch spinach)
1 cup coconut milk
1 maggi seasoning, cube plus
4 cups water or chicken stock
1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (Congo pepper)
2 tablespoons golden ray cooking margarine
Salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and add the onion, garlic, celery and fresh herbs. Sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
2. Add okras, pumpkin and dasheen leaves and sauté for another minute or so. Add the coconut milk and stock or water and hot pepper.
3. Keep an eye on that hot pepper use one that is not bruised. You DO NOT want that pepper to burst while cooking. The heat from the burst pepper will overpower the other flavours.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about 35 minutes.
5. Taste and add salt if needed.
6. Remove hot pepper and swizzle the callaloo, or put in a blender or you can use an immersion type blender, and beat until smooth.
7. Add the cooking margarine or butter. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Stir well.
8. Serve hot as a soup on it's own or as a side dish.

Crab can also be added to the callaloo during the cooking process to get crab and callaloo as shown in the picture above.