New Breadfruit Community Online Last year, The UWI’s Faculty of Food and Agriculture hosted a successful International Breadfruit Conference (July 5-8) at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain, which attracted presenters from the Pacific, Asia, Africa, the US and the Caribbean. It was the first conference on breadfruit ever held in Trinidad and Tobago, and generously supported by PCS Nitrogen Trinidad Limited, the major sponsor. Dr. Roberts-Nkrumah said the impact of the conference has been very good. As a result of networking and knowledge exchanged there, institutional use of breadfruit may increase. Also, emerging from the conference, there will be more research done to put breadfruit into consumer hands, and there have been increased requests for help from farmers. Also, there’s a healthy interest in harnessing breadfruit into community tourism along the east coast—and an increasing recognition of breadfruit’s potential in community development. Triggered by interest at the conference, there will also soon be a new breadfruit website; there is already a new Facebook page called the International Breadfruit Network, to exchange ideas and information across geographical borders on anything breadfruit-related. “I feel it’s the food of the future,” said Olelo pa’a Faith Ogawa, a Hawaii-born private chef, to writer Julia Sile for a 2011 Wall Street Journal article on breadfruit: “If I were to speak to the breadfruit spirit, it would tell me: ‘Grow me! Eat me!’ It can feed villages!” For more information The International Breadfruit Network https://www.facebook.com/breadfruitnetwork The UWI Department of Food Production http://sta.uwi.edu/ffa/foodprod/ Tel: (868) 662-2002, ext 83989 Email: food.production@sta.uwi.edu First Floor, Sir Frank Stockdale Building, Department of Food Production, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, The UWI, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago The Breadfruit Institute http://ntbg.org/breadfruit/ The Breadfruit Institute, National Tropical Botanical Garden, 3530 Papalina Road, Kalaheo, Kauai, Hawaii USA 96741 Tel: (808) 332-7324 Email: breadfruitinstitute@ntbg.org
Breadfruit & Dahl Curry Serves 5-6
Ingredients
1 small size breadfruit (about 300gm) 100 gm toor dal (split pigeon peas) 1 level tsp tamarind paste ½ tsp turmeric powder 2 large onions sliced fine Oil or ghee for frying For the masala: 6 long dry red chillies 1 tsp coriander 1 tsp channa dahl (split chickpeas) Pinch of hing (asafoetida) (optional) 1 cup grated coconut (or half a coconut grated) For the seasoning/tempering: ½ tsp mustard 1 sprig curry leaves (kadipatta) 1 tbsp oil or ghee
Method
1. Wash and cut the breadfruit into half (vertically) and remove the skin gently. Cut into quarters, remove the pith and cut into small chunks. 2. Wash the split peas and pressure cook with sufficient water and a little salt. Set aside. 3. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat some oil or ghee and roast the ingredients mentioned in ‘For the masala’. Grind to a fine paste using a little water. 4. In another pan, add the tamarind water, breadfruit chunks, turmeric powder, sliced onions, salt to taste and some water and cook it on slow fire till the breadfruit is tender (but not mushy). Add to this the ground masala and the precooked toor dahl (split pigeon peas) and the dahl water, if required to achieve a gravy consistency. Check salt and bring the curry to a boil. 5. Season the curry with the seasoning for which you need to heat some oil in a pan and toss in the mustard—when they splutter, add the curry leaves and add this mixture to the curry. 6. Serve hot with rice. Recipe courtesy www.ruchikrandhap.com
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