Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Grenadian Curried Lambi
Lambi (conch) tenderized and simmered in a fragrant curried coconut sauce with onion, tomato, thyme, and scotch bonnet; a prized Grenadian seafood dish.
Grenadian · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 70 min
~456 cal · 47g protein · 15g carbs · 23g fat · 3g fiber · 5g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Lambi is the Grenadian name for conch, the large sea snail whose dense meat is a point of culinary pride on the Spice Isle. Every fisherman and market vendor knows it, and its great pink shell doubles as a carnival horn. Curried and stewed, lambi is festive food, served at celebrations and seaside restaurants across the island.
The meat is tough and needs coaxing: it is pounded with a mallet to break down the fibres, then simmered long and slow until tender. In Grenada it is typically cooked in a fragrant curry, onion, garlic, and tomato bloomed with curry powder, brightened with lime, and enriched with a little , a whole dropped in for perfume.
Grenada's spice-island pantry, nutmeg, thyme, and hot pepper, runs through the sauce. Curried lambi is served over rice or with fried bakes, the kind of dish that says a celebration is on.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 1/2 lbs conch meat (lambi), cleaned and tenderized
2 tbsp curry powder
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 pepper, left whole
1 cup
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp vegetable oil
to taste salt
to taste black pepper
Instructions
1
Pound the conch with a mallet to break down the fibres, then cut into bite-size pieces and rinse.
✎ Chef’s note
Conch is naturally tough, so it needs either a long slow simmer or a spell in a pressure cooker; do not rush it or it stays rubbery.
2
Heat the oil and bloom the curry powder in it for a minute, then add the onion, garlic, thyme, and tomato and cook until soft.
3
Add the conch, stir to coat in the curry, and add a splash of water and the whole scotch bonnet.
4
Cover and simmer gently for about an hour, adding water as needed, until the conch is tender.
5
Stir in the coconut milk and lime juice and simmer another 10 minutes until the sauce is rich. Lift out the pepper, season, and serve over rice.
St. George's seaside tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
St. George's. St. George's is a spice-port capital, and the nutmeg and mace Grenada exports run through its cooking generally. The national dish, oil down, is layered rather than spiced that way: breadfruit, salted meat, callaloo, and dumplings simmer down in turmeric-yellow coconut milk until the pot runs dry and the oil is all that is left.
🗺️
Grenada. Grenada is the 'Spice Isle,' and nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove perfume its cooking, from the national oil down (a one-pot of breadfruit, meat, and coconut) to cocoa tea. Fresh spice and Caribbean warmth define the plate.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Grenada
Oil DownGrenada's one-pot national dish: breadfruit, salted meat, dumplings, and callaloo cooked down in coconut milk and turmeric.
Cocoa Tea and Fried BakesSpiced local cocoa simmered into a rich, cinnamon-scented "tea," served with hot fried bakes, breakfast on the Spice Isle.
Grenadian Nutmeg Ice CreamA cool, creamy ice cream fragrant with fresh-grated nutmeg, showcasing the spice that defines the Isle of Spice.
Browse all Grenada recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Grenada meal
Cocoa TeaDrink
Grenadian Nutmeg Ice CreamDessert
Grenadian Callaloo SoupLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Eke Takare (Curried Octopus in Coconut Cream)Cook Islands
Mchuzi wa Samaki (Coconut Fish Curry)Tanzania
Moqueca Baiana (Bahian Fish Stew)Brazil
MarmitakoSpain
Macher JholIndia
Fish AmokCambodia
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Grenadian Curried Lambi?
Lambi (conch) tenderized and simmered in a fragrant curried coconut sauce with onion, tomato, thyme, and scotch bonnet; a prized Grenadian seafood dish.
Where does Grenadian Curried Lambi come from?
Grenadian Curried Lambi is a Grenadian dish from St. George's, Grenada.
Can Grenadian Curried Lambi be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Grenadian Curried Lambi recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Grenadian Curried Lambi safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Grenadian Curried Lambi take to make?
About 95 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 70 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.