Submitted by Danielle
A versatile side dish but traditionally served in the Caribbean as breakfast with boiled green banana and fried dumplings. If you can’t get hold on the banana simply substitute with another savoury vegetable such as simple sautéed mushrooms!
Fried Dumplings
Ingredients – 4 servings
250g self raising flour
1tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tbsp margarine (optional)
Approx 120ml cold water
Vegetable oil to shallow fry later on
Method – Part One
After sieving the flour, add the salt and sugar before rubbing in the margarine.
Gradually add the water and roll into a dough ball. Knead until smooth but don’t over knead. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with a towel and place in the fridge whilst you cook your callaloo and prepare you banana.
Callaloo
Ingredients
Coconut oil (or any vegetable oil)
Onion – diced
Garlic – minced
Mixed bell peppers – deseeded and diced
Spicy Pepper of choice but Scotch Bonnet would be the traditional go to!
Callaloo – washed
Sea salt
Ground black pepper (course or fine)
Dried thyme
Fresh Tomato – Diced
Method
To prepare the callaloo, shake off excess water, peel the outer membrane from the main stem before chopping.
Heat the oil in a large pan before adding the onion, garlic and peppers. Sauté on a medium heat. Add the callaloo to the pan and reduce the heat. Cook for an additional 5 minutes before adding in the tomatoes and the seasoning. Once incorporated and the water is released from the tomatoes, simmer, stirring occasionally for another 5 minutes or until the callaloo stems have softened. Once cooked, this can be put to one side and reheated to serve. This will free you up to prepare your banana and finish your dumplings!
Green Banana
Ingredients
Green bananas – usually up to 1 per person
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Vegetable oil
Juice of half a lemon
Method
Place a pan of water to boil and add the salt, oil and lemon juice
To prepare the banana, wearing gloves (it stains!) cut it open at each, run your knife down one side of the banana and use this cut to peel the skin from the banana.
Drop the whole banana into the boiling water, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes.
Once cooked turn the heat off but leave the bananas in the water to keep warm.
Dumplings
Method – Part 2
Remove the dough from the fridge and split into equal parts, approximately the size of a large egg.
Heat a pan with the oil.
Roll each piece of dough into a tidy ball before pressing down in the middle to make a slight indent before placing in the pan. Immediately reduce the heat and gently fry on each side. If they become too dark in colour before fully cooked you may need to prop them up on their side against the sides of the pan. You’ll know when they are cooked when there is no longer any visible raw dough and the dumpling sounds hollow when you tap it with a utensil.
Remove from the pan and place on a piece of kitchen roll to absorb any excess oil.
Reheat your callaloo, drain your banana and serve with your dumplings!
Good Morning!
