Calulu

Instructions

1. 1 Heat the palm oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Saute the sliced onions for six minutes until softened and golden. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more. The palm oil provides the essential red-orange colour and distinctive flavour of Sao Tomean cooking.
2. 2 Add the diced tomatoes and cook for eight minutes, stirring occasionally, until they break down into a thick sauce. Add the whole scotch bonnet pepper for flavour without breaking it, and season with salt to taste.
3. 3 Add the sliced okra to the pot and cook for five minutes. The okra releases a natural mucilage that thickens the stew. Stir in the flaked smoked fish, which adds a deep, savoury, smoky backbone to the entire dish.
4. 4 Season the fresh fish chunks with salt and carefully place them on top of the okra and tomato mixture. Spoon some of the sauce over the fish. Cover the pot and cook on low heat for fifteen minutes until the fish is opaque and flakes easily.
5. 5 Add the spinach or greens during the last five minutes of cooking, pushing them into the hot stew until they wilt. The combination of fresh fish, smoked fish, okra, and greens in palm oil sauce represents the essence of Sao Tomean coastal cuisine.
6. 6 Serve the calulu hot over steamed white rice with fried plantain slices on the side. This fish and okra stew is the national dish of Sao Tome and Principe, reflecting the island's Portuguese colonial and West African culinary heritage.