- 25 minutes
- Prep 10 minutes
- Cook 15 minutes
- Serves 4
Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.
Ingredients
- 500g fresh callaloo (from Caribbean grocers and some markets), or the same weight of spinach
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (about 3g)
- Half a scotch bonnet chilli, seeds scraped out, finely chopped
- Half a teaspoon salt
- A quarter teaspoon black pepper
Let's cook
- Prepare the callaloo. Strip the leaves from the thick stalks. Peel the tough outer skin off the stalks with a small knife, then chop the stalks into 1cm pieces. Roughly chop the leaves. Wash everything well in a big bowl of cold water and lift it out into a colander, leaving any grit behind.
- Heat the oil in a large pan or wok that has a lid on a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the tomato, thyme and scotch bonnet. Wash your hands after touching the chilli. Cook for 2 minutes until the tomato starts to soften.
- Add the chopped stalks first and stir. Pile the leaves on top, sprinkle over the salt and pepper and add 3 tablespoons of water.
- Put the lid on and turn the heat down to low. Let it steam for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once halfway, until the stalks are tender and the leaves are dark and soft. (Spinach needs only 2 to 3 minutes.)
- Take out the thyme stalks, taste for salt and serve hot.
Tips
- Callaloo shrinks a lot as it cooks, so a big pile of raw leaves makes a modest dish.
- Keep the lid on: the steam does the cooking, so the greens stay bright instead of stewed.
Swaps
- Tinned callaloo: use two 280g tins, drained, and steam for only 3 minutes.
- Milder: leave out the scotch bonnet.
- Richer: stir in 2 tablespoons of coconut milk at the end.
Tags
In Twenty minute dinners, Plant powered.
None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written.
Check every packet for allergens.