Hi, let’s make some breadfruit cou-cou with curry bodi (long beans) and greens, plus a bonus snack from the leftovers. Have you heard of or tried breadfruit before? If so, you might know already that it can be prepared and eaten so many different ways – roasted whole or sliced and fried like chips, boiled and pickled, mashed, baked, frittered, souped-up or dumplin-ed. If this fruit that’s also a staple or ‘provision’ is new for you, here’s another post sharing more info about it (with another recipe) right here.

Bajan breadfruit cou-cou is similar to African fufu in texture, bulkiness and the fact that you can eat it with your hands or scoop with a spoon if you want to. Usually, cou-cou is made with cornmeal and has boiled okra bits mixed in, but using breadfruit is like a sweet remix of your favourite song. Breadfruit juice has a sticky consistency (after you peel and boil the fruit) so it mashes and holds well like eddoes /taro poi, cassava or green banana. 

This video is a short and sweet summary of my breadfruit cou-cou recipe but if you want to walk through the steps a bit slower for when you’re making it in real-time, it’s posted here too.

To Make Breadfruit Cou-Cou:

1 breadfruit (Peeling and boiling same time although half for cou-cou on day 1 and the rest for the bonus snack on day 2)

water (to boil breadfruit and an extra 1/2 cup or so to sauté greens)

curry spices

salt and pepper

butter to taste and texture (optional)

parsley, (optional) chadon beni, thyme and cilantro 

a handful of chopped bodi/bora (long beans)

a handful of spinach

1 medium onion

3-4 garlic pods (crushed and whole)

A few splashes of soy sauce

A few tbsps of oil

• coconut water (optional)

1 pot, 1 pan, 1 big spoon, mortar and pestle or cou-cou stick – if not, grab a fork.

Breadfruit prep

Peel and boil the breadfruit: put the speckled ‘heart’ (dotted tougher center) in the compost and cut the rest up in chunks. Wash them off and put them in a pot of water to boil. Just enough water to cover the breadfruit.

3/4 cover the pot and when the breadfruit is soft enough to mash easily, remove from heat. 

Set aside any excess breadfruit water but keep some in the mix. Add a tsp of butter and mash. If you have a mortar and pestle or a cou-cou stick, those are best. I couldn’t find them so had to use a fork. Get ready for an arm workout to get all the lumps out and the right creamy texture and ‘pull.’

Beans and Greens prep

In a little oil, sauté the onion – then after 2 minutes, the garlic and the spices.

After another 2 minutes, add the bodi/bora, half cup of water, spinach, sprinkle of salt and herbs.

Stir for a few minutes. Taste and remove from heat.

Scoop out the smooth breadfruit cou-cou and either make a ‘bowl’ in the middle (with the back of your spoon) for the beans, greens and gravy, or set them to the side with some fresh salad or diced cucumber to use as a topping.

Enjoy and thanks for coming by the blog.

Preserve The Breadfruits In Barbados | A Plea To The People | Fruits Of The Land | Health Benefits Galore

Original acoustic background music in this video: “Fly” and “Anointing”

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