1 teaspoon ground allspice or 2 allspice berries
2 tablespoons olive oil
spring onions (bunch) - white and green parts roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
a few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
a large bunch of fresh coriander, stalks finely chopped
the juice and zest of 2 unwaxed limes
2 bay leaves
½ Scotch bonnet chilli
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
½ butternut squash or pumpkin (about 600g), peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 x 400g tin black-eyed beans or kidney beans
1 head of greens, thick stalks removed, roughly shredded
FOR THE TOPPING
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
75g toasted pumpkin seeds (or the toasted seeds from inside your squash)
rotis or rice (see page 193)
yoghurt of your choice
Toast the allspice berries for a minute or so in a large
heavy-based,
lidded pan that you can use for your stew (skip
this step if using
ground), then put into a food processor
with a tablespoon of the olive
oil, the spring onions,
garlic, ginger, thyme leaves, coriander stalks and
the juice
and zest of 1 lime. Season with salt and pepper and blitz to
form
a paste.
Put the pan back over a medium heat and, once hot,
add the remaining
oil and fry the paste, stirring all the
time, for 3-4 minutes until fragrant.
Add the bay leaves, whole chilli, coconut milk and 500ml warm
water to
the pan. Stir to combine, bring to a simmer and cook
for a few minutes,
then add the squash or pumpkin and sweet
potatoes. Drain and rinse
the beans, then roughly mash them
in a bowl, add to the pan and cook
for 30-40 minutes at a
gentle simmer.
Make your topping. Mix the olive oil and pumpkin seeds with the
zest
of the second lime and season with salt.
Once the squash or pumpkin and potatoes are cooked, and are
just
holding their shape but soft throughout, and the sauce
is rich and
flavourful, scoop out the bay, whole chilli and
any thyme sprigs, then
add the greens to the top of the stew
- don't stir them in - and cover
with a lid. Cook for a
couple of minutes until dark, bright green. Remove
the stew
from the heat and squeeze over the juice of the remaining
lime.
Taste and add more lime, salt or pepper if needed.
Use tongs to divide the greens between warm bowls before
spooning
over generous helpings of the stew. Scatter over the
toasted pumpkin-
seed topping and the reserved coriander
leaves. Serve with yoghurt and
rice or rotis on the table for
people to help themselves.