A fusion food recipe where India meets the Caribbean. An Island inspired dish that is generously seasoned. A vegetable stir fry completely vegan friendly, wholesome and filling too.
Brace yourself for this Caribbean chow chow recipe coming your way, this one is light and very very simple to make. I know sometimes curry recipes can be overwhelming, almost to the point of intimidation.
Here in the UK curries are pretty much a part of the British culture, you won't find a Town/City that doesn't have a plethora of curry houses, that's how notorious they are over here.
Since experimenting more with Indian spices I have successfully managed to incorporate a more than usual selection of different spices into my Caribbean cooking.
You see Jamaicans don't toy around with a laundry list of Indian spices incomparsion but say Trinidad and Tobago or Guyana. These are islands with a significantly higher Indian population and are much influenced by these flavours.
This plantain chow chow stir fry has an influence of Caribbean flavour with raw Southern Indian spices - lightly seasoned and not too hot, so if you've not a fan of heat, no worries as you won't need to sit this one out.
The scotch bonnet is added to the pan whole for flavour only, so heat won't penetrate the food (as long as it doesn't burst).
What is chow chow (cho cho)?
Chow chow (aka cho cho/chayote or christophine) as it is known in the Caribbean is a pear shaped fruit (albeit, eaten like a vegetable) which belongs to the same family as melons and cucumber, that's not surprising given it's high water content.
As with all high water veggies it is low in calories and a good vegetable to include if you're weight watching.
A good example a cho cho/christophine recipe is this Stuffed Christophine dish with sauteed saltfish.
Where to buy?
Also known as Chayote, Christophine, vegetable pear just to name a few. You can purchase this vegetable from any Indian or African Caribbean grocery store.
The plantain really pairs well with the Chow chow not only as a clean complex carbohydrate vegetable, but also for some added sweetness, coupled with the shredded coconut.
I'm telling you, this plantain cho cho curry is a tasty, meat free meal that's filling enough for lunch or dinner.
What other appetizer recipes do you recommend?
Try Baigan Choka (Eggplant dip) or Tomato Choka
How to make Caribbean plantain chow chow curry
- First parboil (partially boil) the plantain and chow chow for 2-3 minutes then drain off the excess water and set aside.
- Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan and fry the mustard seeds, with the onion and split peas until the seeds begin to crackle on medium heat and the split peas/onion turn golden.
- Continue to stir and rotate the pan, then add the scotch bonnet, thyme, curry leaves, turmeric, coconut, salt and steamed veggies
- Combine and stir fry the vegetables for one minute before pouring in the hot water.
- Reduce the flame to low, cover with lid and cook for 10 minutes.
Notes and tips
- A zucchini can be used as a substitute, it's the closest thing.
- Chow chow is also known as cho cho, chayote or christophine.
- Make sure the plantain is ripe (not green) how ripe is your preference. The more ripe (darker the peel) the sweeter and softer the plantain is.
- Head to a ethnic market or supermarket(Latino/Black/Asian) for both plantain and cho cho.
More plantain recipes
- Spicy Sweet Shrimp and Plantain
- Pastelon (Puerto Rican plantain lasagna)
- Plantain Pie
- Sweet Plantain Mash
- Yellow Plantain Porridge
- Plantain Curry
- Dominican Mangu
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Caribbean Plantain Chow Chow Curry (Chayote Stir Fry)
Ingredients
- 2 cho cho peeled and cored (chow chow/chayote or christophine)
- 1 large plantain peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon of split peas
- ⅓ cup of shredded coconut
- ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds
- 1 scotch bonnet or use a chilli
- ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon of himalayan pink salt
- ½ a red onion sliced
- 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 cup of hot water
- 2 tablespoon of coconut oil
Instructions
- First parboil (partially boil) the plantain and cho cho for 2-3 minutes then drain off the excess water and set aside.
- Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan and fry the mustard seeds, with the onion and split peas until the seeds begin to crackle on medium heat and the split peas/onion turn golden.
- Continue to stir and rotate the pan, then add the scotch bonnet, thyme, curry leaves, turmeric, coconut, salt and steamed veggies
- Combine and stir fry the vegetables for one minute before pouring in the hot water.
- Reduce the flame to low, cover with lid and cook for 10 minutes.
Notes
- A zucchini can be used as a substitute, it's the closest thing
- Chow chow is also known as cho cho, chayote or christophine
- Make sure the plantain is ripe (not green) how ripe is your preference. The more ripe (darker the peel) the sweeter and softer the plantain is.
- Head to a ethnic market or supermarket(Latino/Black/Asian) for both plantain and cho cho
Marianne
Hello Charla,
The recipe states 1 tsp of split pea. Is that correct? If so, can green split pea be used instead of yellow?
Charla
Hi Marianne. Yes, that is correct. Either split pea will work for the recipe.
Whitney
What sort of split peas are used? Green?
Charla
Hi Whitney. I used yellow split peas.
Natasha
This was very delicious! Thank you 🙂
Charla
Awesome! Glad you liked it Natasha 😉