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Cowheel soup
Trinidad & Tobago cowheel soup: cow heel slow-simmered with split peas, provisions and flour dumplings
In Trinidad and Tobago, cowheel soup is Saturday soup: the big pot people make at home or buy from roadside soup vendors after a fete, believed to set you right again. Cow heel is simmered for hours until gelatinous, then yellow split peas, pumpkin and 'provisions' such as dasheen, cassava, eddoes and green bananas go in, with green seasoning, a whole scotch bonnet for perfume and soft flour dumplings dropped in at the end. The broth turns thick and silky from the collagen and split peas. The usual mistake is bursting the scotch bonnet, which makes the pot fiercely hot; leave it whole and lift it out. A pressure cooker gets the cow heel tender in 50 minutes. Chef's tip: buy cow heel already cut and scraped by the butcher, then scrub it with lime before cooking.
- Total time
- 200 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the soup
- 3 ⅓ lb cow heelcut into pieces by the butcher
- 1 limehalved
- 12 ½ cups water
- 1 onionchopped
- 4 cloves garliccrushed
- 7 oz yellow split peasrinsed
- 14 oz pumpkinpeeled and cubed
- 1 ¾ lb mixed provisions (dasheen, cassava, eddoes, sweet potato)peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 green bananaspeeled and cut into thirds
- 2 carrotssliced
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 scotch bonnet pepperleft whole
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the dumplings
- 7 oz plain flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup cold water
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What you'll need
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Method
0/7 doneStep 2: Put the cow heel back in the pot with the 12 ½ cups water, 4 tbsp green seasoning (blended chadon beni, thyme, chives, garlic), 1 onion and 4 cloves garlic. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour 30 minutes. (Pressure cooker: 50 minutes.)
90 minStep 3: Add the 7 oz yellow split peas and simmer for 30 minutes until they begin to break down and the cow heel is soft and sticky.
30 minStep 4: Add the 14 oz pumpkin, 1 ¾ lb mixed provisions (dasheen, cassava, eddoes, sweet potato), 2 green bananas, 2 carrots, 4 sprigs fresh thyme and the whole 1 scotch bonnet pepper. Top up with water so everything is covered, and simmer 20 minutes.
20 minStep 5: Meanwhile knead the 7 oz plain flour, ¼ tsp salt and ½ cup cold water into a firm, smooth dough. Rest 10 minutes, then roll pieces into 6 cm fingers and flatten slightly.
10 minStep 6: Drop the dumplings into the simmering soup, cover and cook 15 minutes until they are firm and no longer doughy when cut. The provisions should be tender and the pumpkin melting into the broth.
15 minStep 7: Lift out the scotch bonnet without breaking it. Season with 1 ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper and serve in deep bowls.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 560 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 82 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cowheel soup take?
- About 200 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 170 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of lime?
- Lemon, same amount.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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