Rice and Peas

Pelau, callaloo and fried green banana

When I was a young flibbertigibbet living in London I was kindly adopted by a lovely, funny, straightalking lady called Lorraine. She was Jamaican via Islington and had a teenage daughter already who was far too sensible for her own good so she decided - God knows why - to take me under her wing. And a big part of that - as anyone who's ever visited a Jamaican household knows - was feeding me. And boy did she feed me! In the short time I knew her, she converted me to curries spiced with scotch bonnet peppers and lime juice, sweetened curried buns, allspice (which I'd previously always confused with the bakers favourite mixed spice) and rice and peas - the classic Jamaican accompaniment to curry and stew. I had been soaking some pigeon peas overnight and wondering what to do with them. Rice and peas seemed the obvious choice - all you need is rice, coconut milk, thyme and beans -but a quick look through my Vegan Caribbean cookery book (more a pamphlet really!) revealed a recipe for Pelau.
This Trinidadian version of pilau rice is usually served at Christmas time and consists of onions, brown pigeon peas, red and green peppers and carrots fried in oil and caramelised sugar with the addition of rice, tinned tomatoes, tomato sauce, coconut milk and salt and pepper.

Peppers and carrots ready for frying

As I read the recipe directions I remembered the jar of coconut palm sugar I had bought from the Chinese supermarket last time I visited.

What it says on the tin.

It would be perfect for this dish - a few tablespoons added to the oil and fried until dark brown before the other ingredients are quickly added. It tastes like fudge straight out of the jar and melts down deliciously quickly when added to the oil. The rice is them simmered until the grains and vegetables are tender and served up either on its own or with an appropriate accompaniement. So I made fried green banana and callaloo.
Fried green banana is the poor man's equivalent of fried plantain. You want bananas that are Grinch-green, that would be so bitter if eaten raw there'd be a distinct possibility of your tongue withering. You peel them with a knife - the peel is too thick to get off by hand - and then slice into thick diagonal slices. Fry them in a hot vegan margarine and oil mix until bright yellow and - if you like - crispy round the edges.
Callaloo uses dasheen leaves to make a classic side dish when combined with okra, onion, creamed coconut and simmered briefly with a whole chili. As my dasheen leaf availability is severely limited by living in Scotland I used spinach instead. I fried diced onion until brown and caramelised before adding a bag of washed spinach, some chili flakes and coconut milk and letting it cook for a few minutes until the spinach is wilted. Inauthentic, but tasty!
Both these dishes needed a lot of seasoning to bring them to their best but once there were really quite tasty. To be honest I'm doubting the veracity of my cooking pamphlet - it seems a bit, erm, bland? - but I've got the basics so a bit of googling should give me a more authentic flavour of the Caribbean.
In other News, McGonnagle has been chosen from her class to represent the school in an Cross-Schools sports day tomorrow. How frickin' cool is that?!! So proud of my girl!