Breadfruit, salted pigtails and dasheen bush bhagi cooked slowly in coconut milk until the milk is absorbed and leaves only its oil in the pot. One pot, no stirring, and a crowd fed.
Oil down gets its name from the way it finishes: breadfruit, salted meat and dasheen bush (bhagi) simmer in coconut milk until the milk has soaked in and cooked away, leaving a thin layer of coconut oil at the bottom of the pot. It is cooked across Trinidad and Tobago and is also loved in Grenada, where it is the national dish.
It is a one-pot meal in the truest sense. Everything goes in in layers, the lid goes on, and the pot is left alone. Stirring breaks up the breadfruit, so give the pot a shake instead.
The one job that needs time is taking the salt out of the pigtails. Boil them in two changes of water before they go into the pot, and taste a piece: it should be pleasantly salty, not harsh. Salt fish and salt beef both work in place of pigtails; see the substitutions.
The recipe
Breadfruit Oil Down
Prep
30 min
Cook
1 hr 20 min
Total
1 hr 50 min
Serves
6
Times and quantities are our best estimates. This recipe is still being kitchen-tested, so trust your eyes and taste as you go.
Servings
Ingredient amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pot size may need adjusting too.
Ingredients
Tick items off as you gather them.
For the pigtails
For the pot
Method
Take the salt out of the pigtails
Put the pigtails in a pot, cover with water and boil for 15 minutes. Drain.
Cover with fresh water and boil for another 20 to 25 minutes, until starting to soften. Taste a small piece: if it is still very salty, boil once more in fresh water. Drain.
Prepare the breadfruit
Rub a little oil on your hands and knife: the sap is sticky. Cut the breadfruit into quarters, peel off the skin and cut away the spongy core.
Cut each quarter into chunks about 2 inches (5 cm) across. Keep them in a bowl of water so they don't darken.
Prepare the bhagi
Wash the dasheen leaves well. Peel the thin outer skin off the stems and cut the stems into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces.
Roll up the leaves and slice them into ribbons about ½ inch (1 cm) wide.
Build the pot
Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic for 3 minutes until soft.
Stir in the green seasoning, thyme, scallions and turmeric and cook for 1 minute. Add the pigtails and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
Drain the breadfruit and lay it on top of the pigtails, then spread the bhagi leaves and stems over the breadfruit. Pour in the coconut milk and water: the liquid should come about three-quarters of the way up the breadfruit. Lay the whole pepper on top.
Taste the liquid. Add salt only if it needs it; the pigtails bring plenty.
Oil it down
Bring to a boil, then cover, turn the heat to low and cook for 35 to 45 minutes. Don't stir: shake the pot gently now and then instead. Check at 25 minutes and add a splash of water if it is drying out before the breadfruit is tender.
It is ready when a knife slides easily into the breadfruit, the bhagi has cooked down completely and the coconut milk has cooked down to a little oil at the bottom of the pot.
Lift out the pepper without bursting it and the thyme stems. Scatter over the chadon beni and serve from the pot.
Serve it with
Sliced avocado (zaboca)
Cucumber salad or coleslaw
Pepper sauce at the table
Substitutions
Salt fish instead of pigtails: soak 12 oz (340 g) boneless salt fish in cold water for a few hours, or boil it for 10 minutes and drain. Taste, and repeat if it is still very salty. Flake it, skip the pigtail steps, and lay it over the breadfruit for the last 15 minutes so it stays in pieces.
Salt beef instead of pigtails: use 1 lb (450 g), cut small, and boil it the same way as the pigtails. It may need an extra boil to become tender.
Breadfruit: green bananas (green fig), peeled, work too and cook in about 25 minutes.
Dasheen bush: if you can't get it, young spinach or chorai will do. Lay it on for the last 10 minutes only.
Fresh coconut milk: grate one dry coconut, squeeze with 3 cups (720 ml) warm water and strain.
Storing and reheating
Cool quickly and refrigerate in a covered container; eat within 3 days.
Reheat covered, with a splash of water, until piping hot all the way through.
Cook's notes
Choose a breadfruit that is mature (the skin has some brown patches) but still firm. A soft, ripe breadfruit is sweet and falls apart.
Dasheen bush must cook right through: undercooked leaves make the mouth and throat itch. Steaming on top of the breadfruit for the whole cooking time is enough, but taste a little before serving.
