CUISINE: Oil Down

Grenada’s national dish is called “Oil down”. It is a simple, delicious and robust dish, which is very popular in local restaurants. It’s a hearty one pot meal of salted meat, chicken, dumplings, breadfruit, callaloo – made from young dasheen leaves and other vegetables. The whole thing is stewed in coconut milk, herbs and spices to add even more flavour.

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Ingredients

8-10 young dasheen
1 sprig celery, chive and thyme
2 medium carrots chopped
2 green peppers chopped
1 pound dumplings
2 tablespoons tumeric (saffon)
1/2 pound of Salted meat (pre-soaked overnight)
1 large Breadfruit peeled
2 cups coconut milk
1 medium onion chopped

Method

1. Wash and peel breadfruit. Cut into 8 sections. Remove centre lengthways of each section and cut into half crosswise.
2. Wash and scrape meat, cut into pieces and rinse in lime juice and water.
3. Remove skins of onions, rinse and cut into small pieces. Remove seeds of chilli peppers and cut into wedges. Chop chives into small pieces.
4. Put salted meat into cold water, bring to the boil and drain. Repeat 3 times to remove preserving salt. Put to cook until just tender and drain.
5. Saute onions and garlic in hot oil until onions are pale yellow.
6. Add chive, thyme, flavoring pepper, salted meat and salt to taste. Pour over 2 cups of coconut milk.
7. Add wedges of breadfruit, sugar, green hot pepper and cook until breadfruit absorbs liquid.
8. Add remaining coconut milk. Remove hot pepper. Stir to blend well and cook at a reduced heat. There should be no remaining liquid.
9. Serve hot.