Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream)
Ripe banana and sago wrapped in banana leaves and boiled, then served warm with thick coconut cream, a Central District delicacy.
Papua New Guinean · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 20 min
~553 cal · 4g protein · 95g carbs · 20g fat · 7g fiber · 28g sugars · 18g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Dia, also called bariva or pariwa, is a traditional sweet of the Motu people of Papua New Guinea's Central Province, particularly the Rigo district. and coconut are the everyday abundance of the coastal lowlands, and dia turns them into something quietly celebratory, a dish that appears at weddings, gatherings and everyday tables alike.
Overripe bananas are mashed and mixed with , the starch extracted from the pith of the palm. The mixture is wrapped in banana leaves, tied, and boiled until the turns translucent, then unwrapped and served warm under a spoonful of thick . The leaves lend a faint smoky note, and the coconut brings richness to the mild, sweet base.
It is distinct from saksak, which cooks the same staples as dumplings in a coconut sauce; dia keeps the banana and together in a leaf parcel and finishes with cream on top. Warm, soft and gently sweet, it is comfort food built entirely from what the coastal garden and palm provide.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and 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 cup (or tapioca) starch
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
4 pieces banana leaves, softened over a flame
1 cup thick
1 pinch pinch of salt
Instructions
1
Mash the ripe bananas well, then mix in the sago until it forms a thick, cohesive paste.
✎ Chef’s note
Use bananas that are very ripe, almost overripe: their sweetness is the whole flavour of the dish, since dia is not otherwise sugared.
2
Pass the banana leaf pieces briefly over a flame or hot burner until they turn glossy and pliable, so they will not crack.
3
Divide the mixture between the leaves, fold each into a neat parcel, and tie securely.
4
Boil the parcels for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sago has turned translucent and cooked through.
5
Meanwhile, warm the coconut cream gently with a pinch of salt (do not boil hard). Unwrap the parcels and serve warm with the coconut cream spooned over.
✎ Chef’s note
In the fullest traditional version the coconut is used twice: some is squeezed into fresh cream (ketara) for spooning over, and some is cooked right down until it breaks into fragrant coconut oil (dia) that gives the dish its name.
Motu tradition, Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Highlands. Coffee is the highland cash crop and it is grown at household scale: arabica planted in garden plots under shade, picked by hand, and processed at communal wet mills, with smallholders accounting for the overwhelming majority of the national crop. Sweet potato does the daily feeding, and it is a relatively recent arrival that made settlement at these altitudes possible.
🗺️
Papua New Guinea. The lowlands and the highlands eat differently. Along the Sepik and the Fly delta the staple is sago, starch washed out of the pith of a felled palm, a job split by gender with men cutting and crushing and women extracting, then cooked into a stiff jelly eaten almost daily. The highlands, higher and cooler, live on sweet potato.
🌍
Oceania. The twentieth century changed the Pacific plate faster than anything before it. White rice, tinned corned beef, mutton flaps, flour and sugar arrived by ship and are now entirely everyday, and the public health consequences are among the most closely studied anywhere. Alongside that, Australian and New Zealand kitchens have taken up Asian technique and Maori and Pasifika cooking in a way they had not before.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Papua New Guinea
Highlands Mumu (Earth-Oven Vegetables)Sweet potato, greens, corn, and coconut milk steamed in banana leaves, an oven-friendly take on the mumu feast.
Roasted Kaukau with CoconutKaukau (sweet potato) roasted in the embers and eaten with fresh grated coconut, an everyday Papua New Guinean breakfast.
Saksak (Sago and Banana Dumplings)Pearls of sago and sweet banana set in coconut cream, the pudding that turns up at feasts across Papua New Guinea.
Browse all Papua New Guinea recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it a Papua New Guinea meal
Aigir (Tolai Coconut Chicken)Dinner
Papua New Guinea Highland CoffeeDrink
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Frequently asked questions
What is Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream)?
Ripe banana and sago wrapped in banana leaves and boiled, then served warm with thick coconut cream, a Central District delicacy.
Where does Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream) come from?
Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream) is a Papua New Guinean dish from Highlands, Papua New Guinea.
Can Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream) 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 Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream) 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 Dia (Sago and Banana in Coconut Cream) take to make?
About 40 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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