I needed a protein-rich side dish to go with my vegetarian Jamaican patties. I thought this recipe seemed thematically appropriate. It was pretty good, but not amazing. That said, I messed up the prep a little bit, so perhaps with more experience I could do a better job of it. I'll plonk the recipe here for now in case I want to come back and revisit it later.

Caribbean-Style Stewed Pigeon Peas

From Olive and Mango

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 c. canned (or fresh) pigeon peas
• 1-2 tsp. molasses (optional)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 pimento peppers, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 c. peeled and chopped pumpkin
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 2 leaves chadon beni¹, chopped
• handful fresh chives, chopped
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 125-250mL water
• 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add sugar and allow to cook until bubbling and caramelized but not burnt.
3. Stir in pigeon peas, cover, and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
4. If you would like the peas to be a little darker, stir in a tsp. or two of molasses.
5. Uncover and cook until liquid has evaporated (~1 minute).
6. Add onion, garlic, pimento, tomato, pumpkin, thyme, chadon beni, and chives and cook for a minute or two.
7. Add coconut milk and 125mL of water.
8. If you would like a little heat, add the whole scotch bonnet pepper at this point. Do not break the skin!
9. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until pumpkin is tender (20-30 minutes), adding extra water as needed.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve topped with extra chadon beni.

---

¹ Chadon beni is an herb common in Caribbean cooking. My understanding is that it's a bit like cilantro, but much stronger. I didn't have any, so I just used a bunch of cilantro instead. ^Back