Green, leafy vegetables give off a fresh aroma that is excellent to make you happy and satisfied. These vegetables can be cooked in a delicious and healthy way which would contribute to prolonging your lifespan. Some famous leafy vegetables found and eaten in Guyana are calaloo, pak choi and eddo leaf. These vegetables are named and used differently in various countries. This leafy vegetable has a few spelling various including called callalloo, calalloo, callaloo and kallaloo.
Calaloo is a popular Caribbean dish originating in West Africa and is served in different variants across the Caribbean. The taro or dasheen bush is used for calaloo in Trinidad, Grenada and Dominica where water spinach is also used while amaranth is used locally in Guyana. The Jamaican calaloo differs from those in the region. In Guyana, calaloo can refer to any in a number of leafy green vegetables. Sometimes calaloo is packed and sold in pounds, or sold fresh.
Cooked Calaloo – Photo By https://www.flickr.com/photos/67276179@N08/ – https://www.flickr.com/photos/67276179@N08/6794697387, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33621500
Health Benefits Of Calaloo
Like other leafy green vegetables, calaloo leaves are packed with nutritional benefits. The leaves contain large amounts of vitamins A, B, and C and are high in fiber, iron, and calcium.
Ways To Eat Calaloo
Calaloo can be steamed and eaten with chicken or shrimp, along with some rice as a main course dish. It can also be used as a side dish in a variety of ways, it can be eaten in cook up rice, soup and some even juice it to drink as a healthy body supplement.
Calaloo Cook-Up Rice
Ingredients:
- 1 lb brown rice
- 1 lb calaloo leaves, chopped
- 1 lb chicken, chopped
- 5 cups water
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 wiri wiri pepper
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- all-purpose seasoning
- oil
- salt to taste
Method:
- Wash and clean chicken.
- Season with salt and all-purpose seasoning.
- Heat oil and saute onions and cloves of garlic.
- Fry chicken until light brown. Set aside.
- In a large pot of water, put rice to boil and allow to cook.
- Add callaloo leaves, coconut milk.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Allow to cook for 15mintues then remove from heat.
- Let cool and serve.
Other Dishes
- Bhaji and roti (or stewed calaloo and roti) is a common dish in Guyana.
- Bhaji & Shrimps
- Bhaji & Saltfish
- Bhaji & Chicken or Fish (fried) or Pork
Article References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callaloo
- https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-callaloo-2138166
- http://www.guyanadining.com/callaloo-cook-up-rice-recipe/
- https://www.thespruceeats.com/chicken-cook-up-rice-recipe-2138149
Last Updated: 2020-07-21
