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| Bajan Conkies |
| Conkies, a corn base Barbadian delicacy, are traditionally
made during the month of November, celebrating independence
(Nov 30th). Conkies were originally made to commemorate the
old British colonial celebration of Guy Fawkes Day (Nov 5th).
This is a laborious recipe, but the results are worth it. |
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| Ingredients |
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2 cups corn flour
1/2 cup flour
3/4 lb finely grated pumpkin
6 oz margarine/shortening melted
1/2 lb sweet potato (optional)
3 cups grated coconut
1 egg
1 tsp salt
4 oz raisins (optional)
3/4 lb brown sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp spice
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp almond essence
*Banana, Plantain or Fig leaves (singed over fire) |
| *Leaves can be substituted all together with
wax paper or foil paper; however, your conkies won't taste as
good. |
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| Preparing Leaves |
 Banana
leaves are used to wrap the conkie mixture, therefore you need
leaves that aren't shredded. Strip leaves from stalk with a
sharp knife. Leaves are very delicate and tear easily. To use
them in your recipe, you must make them pliable by briefly singeing
them over an open flame. If your leaves start to curl up, that
means you had them on the flame too long. If your leaves spontaneously
combust, that means you were using old, dried up leaves. Please
use green leaves! Tear your singed leaves into individual squares
to wrap your conkies in. Many recipes recommend 8" x 8" squares,
but they can be bigger depending on how big you want your conkies
to be. Cut the leaves into pieces that you can comfortably wrap
the conkies in. |
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| Method |
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• Combine grated coconut, sweet potato & pumpkin.
• Mix in sugar, spices, flour, corn flour, salt
and raisins.
• Beat Egg and add to mixture
• Add milk, margarine and almond essence.
• Mix ingredients well. Mixture should be thick
and drop slowly from a spoon.
• Place 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons in the centre
of each banana leaf square.
• Fold the banana leaf neatly around the mixture.
Be careful not to tear the leaf, else the mixture will
leak.
•Steam conkies over rack of boiling water in a
large saucepan or steamer until firm to the touch.
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The video below
shows how to fold the banana leaves.
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(MPEG) 0.98 MB |
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