Blue drawers

Ingredients

Pudding

• 250 gfine yellow cornmeal
• 60 gplain flour
• 200 gdark brown sugar
• 400 mlcoconut milk
• 150 mlwater
• 60 gbutter, melted
• 1 tspfreshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• ½ tspsalt
• 75 graisins
• 1 tbspdark rum, optional

Wrapping

• 1large banana leaf, or 10 pieces about 25 cm square
• kitchen string, or strips torn from the leaf

Directions

1. Cut the banana leaf into squares of about 25 cm, then pass each one over an open gas flame or dip it in boiling water for a few seconds until it darkens and turns glossy. The leaf goes from brittle to pliable in that moment, and an unwilted leaf will split the instant you fold it.
2. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl so the spices are evenly through the dry mix before any liquid goes in.
3. Stir in the coconut milk, water, melted butter, vanilla and rum. Beat until completely smooth, then fold in the raisins. The batter should drop thickly from the spoon rather than pour, closer to a heavy cake batter than a pancake batter.
4. Lay a leaf square shiny side up and spoon about 4 tbsp of batter into the centre. Fold the two long sides over the filling so they overlap, then fold both ends underneath to make a flat parcel.
5. Tie each parcel around the middle and once lengthways with string, firmly enough that it will not open in the water but not so tight that it squeezes the batter out at the ends.
6. Lower the parcels into a large pot of boiling water, weight them down with a plate so they stay submerged, and simmer steadily for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
7. Lift them out and leave them to cool in their wrappers for at least 30 minutes. The pudding is soft and loose when hot and sets firm only as it cools, so unwrapping early gives you a puddle rather than a pudding.
8. Unwrap and eat warm or at room temperature. The surface will have taken a blue-green cast from the leaf, which is where the name comes from.

Technique

• The blue-green tint is pigment leaching out of the banana leaf into the cornmeal. It is the whole point of the name, and it is the one thing foil cannot give you.
• Wilt the leaf first. This single step is the difference between neat parcels and torn ones.
• Do not unwrap hot. Cooling is part of the cooking.

Substitutions

• Baking parchment inside foil if no banana leaf is available, accepting that you lose both the colour and the scent.
• Dried corn husks, soaked until soft, for smaller parcels.

Variations

• The sweet potato version, made with grated sweet potato in place of some of the cornmeal, which many Jamaicans call duckunoo.
• With grated fresh coconut folded through for texture.
• Steamed rather than boiled, which gives a slightly drier set.

History

Also called duckunoo or tie-a-leaf; the leaf-boiled sweet pudding descends from West African cooking.

Frequently asked questions

What is Blue drawers?

Blue drawers is a dessert from Jamaica: sweet cornmeal and coconut pudding tied in banana leaf and boiled. Also called duckunoo or tie-a-leaf; the leaf-boiled sweet pudding descends from West African cooking.

How long does Blue drawers take to make?

Blue drawers takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 10 parcels. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Blue drawers?

Yes, within limits. Baking parchment inside foil if no banana leaf is available, accepting that you lose both the colour and the scent. Dried corn husks, soaked until soft, for smaller parcels.

What is the most important thing to get right in Blue drawers?

Stir in the coconut milk, water, melted butter, vanilla and rum. Beat until completely smooth, then fold in the raisins. The batter should drop thickly from the spoon rather than pour, closer to a heavy cake batter than a pancake batter.