Callaloo is a typical Sunday meal dish in Trinidad & Tobago. Its main ingredient is dasheen bush (also referred to as taro leaves). It also consists of coconut milk, ochro and other ingredients. This is one of my favorite Trini dishes.

INGREDIENTS:

· 12 dasheen bush leaves and stems, washed and chopped

· 3 gloves grated garlic

· 6-7 ochro, sliced

· 1/4 cup pumpkin, sliced

· small onion, sliced

· 2 pimentos, sliced

· Hot pepper (as you like)

· 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil

· 1 cup coconut milk

· 1 tbsp green seasoning

· 1 cup water (or as needed)

· 1 tbsp golden ray butter

· Salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD:

1. Add coconut oil to a pot over low/medium heat.

2. Once oil is hot, add the onions, garlic, pepper and pimentos. Cook until onions are tender.

3. Add ochro. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

4. Add chopped dasheen bush leaves, stems and pumpkin. Cover pot for a few minutes to allow the stems/leaves to melt.

5. Add coconut milk and water. Increase heat and cook until the contents are all nice and tender and there is enough liquid to your liking.

6. Add salt and black pepper.

7. Blend the ingredients using a hand blender until there aren’t many chunky pieces of any ingredient. Some people prefer their callaloo very smooth while other prefer some chunkiness to it.

8. Enjoy your callaloo.

I do have other recipes/videos up on Callaloo already but it’s one of those dishes that can vary depending on a person’s preferences. For example, some people may prefer more ochros than coconut milk. Some enjoy it fully blended while others may prefer seeing some chunks of the various ingredients in it. It’s all up to you. Use the ingredients and method as a guide and simply have fun with it.

Check out the video here: