Ladob

History

Ladob, a preparation of bananas or sweet potatoes simmered in sweetened coconut milk flavored with cinnamon and vanilla, appears across several islands of the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean under very similar names, making its exact origin hard to pin down between Creole, Indian, and East African influences.

In the Seychelles, ladob is made either as a sweet dessert or as a savory side to grilled fish depending on the household, illustrating the flexibility of this simple coconut-based dish, an omnipresent ingredient throughout the archipelago.

Ingredients — serves 4

• 4 ripe plantains (or sweet potatoes)
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1 pinch of salt
• Grated coconut (optional)

Ladob, step by step

1. Peel the plantains or sweet potatoes and cut them into thick pieces.
2. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan with the sugar, cinnamon, and split vanilla pod.
3. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar evenly.
4. Add the plantain or sweet potato pieces to the fragrant coconut milk.
5. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until the fruit is soft and the milk has thickened slightly.
6. Remove the cinnamon and vanilla, then serve warm, sprinkled with grated coconut if you like.

Cooking method

Technique: a gentle simmer in sweetened, spiced coconut milk, which gradually infuses the fruit without ever breaking it down.

Traditional equipment: a small aluminum saucepan from Seychellois Creole kitchens.

Signs it’s ready: the fruit should stay whole and soft, never mashed to a purée; the coconut milk should coat lightly without turning syrupy.

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across four servings. Fat is the number worth pausing on here: coconut milk is naturally rich in saturated fat, and with no meat, egg, or dairy anywhere else in the recipe, essentially the entire fat and saturated fat content of ladob — 22 g and 19 g respectively — comes from that one ingredient.

Protein is minimal at 4 g per serving, reflecting a dish built entirely from fruit and coconut milk rather than any protein source; fibre sits around 4 g, and the added sugar — roughly two tablespoons across four servings — is modest on top of the plantain’s own natural sugars.

Economic context

Ladob is built from two of the cheapest, most reliably available ingredients on any Seychellois island — coconut and plantain or sweet potato — which is part of why it appears as easily on a family’s everyday table as at a celebration, served sweet as dessert or savoury as a side depending on the household rather than the occasion.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Seychelles generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

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