Chadon beni a vital seasoning

Three or four leaves of chadon beni will make your peas, meat, fish, soya, mango chow or pepper sauce perfect. Most West Indians sing the praises of the strong smelling herb that is usually freshly picked from backyards around the Caribbean. Even though chadon beni or shadow beni grows wildly around homes, vendors still make a killing at supermarkets because people use the highly flavoured seasoning faster than it can grow.

Chadon beni sauce for more flavour

The flavourful leaves are not only used to make meat sweet to the bone the way Caribbean people like it, but it is used to make a sauce that adds more flavour to already cooked food. Chadon beni sauce complements a hot doubles with bara, channa, cucumber chutney, tamarind sauce and hot pepper. It dresses a bake and shark along with ketchup, mustard, garlic sauce and pepper sauce at Maracas Beach. Chadon beni sauce adds nicely to barbequed and fried meats with fries, rice, potato salad and macaroni salad. These recipes and more are available in Sweet TnT 100 West Indian Recipes.

Sweet TnT 100 West Indian Recipes, 0 years. Publication, Books, Authors, Joyanne James; Jevan Soyer; Joyce James-Pitman; Chantelle Wilson-Reece; Omilla Mungroo; Kielon Hilaire; Marc Algernon; Marissa Armoogam-Ranghel; Ian Boodoo; Jamie Gangoo; Euline Joseph; Kerry Mc Donald; Vedesh Nath, chadon beni, folklore

Health benefits of chadon beni

Using chadon beni in excess has several health benefits. According to Cynthia Nelson of The Spruce Eats, “There are those who swear that it lowers high blood pressure, and its anti-inflammatory properties can alleviate asthma symptoms. It can also help fight pain from bruises, earaches, and toothaches because it’s an anti-inflammatory. It was used to treat seizures in centuries past… it is rich in calcium and a good source of riboflavin, iron, carotene, and vitamins A, B-complex and C.”

September 2019 www.sweettntmagazine.com