Legim
Local name: Legim
Haitian aubergine and chayote stew cooked long over an epis base until it collapses into a thick brown purée.
Photo: Mx. Granger · CC0
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 75 min
- Total
- 100 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Method
- Soak the diced aubergine and chayote in lime water for 10 minutes, then drain.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Boil the aubergine, chayote and carrot for 20 minutes, until a knife tip meets no resistance.
- Drain, keeping 200 ml of the water. Crush the vegetables with a pestle or fork into a rough purée.
- Heat the oil in a casserole. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, add the epis and tomato purée, and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the vegetable purée, cabbage and reserved water. Set the whole chilli on top without piercing it.
- Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the mixture pulls away from the base of the pan.
- Stir in the spinach, cook 5 minutes more, lift out the chilli and adjust the salt. Serve with white rice.
Epis is the aromatic base of every Haitian kitchen. Blend parsley, thyme, garlic and pepper with a little oil and vinegar, then keep it in the fridge for a week. Without it, legim stays a plain vegetable stew.
