Jamaican Rice and peas

"Christmas is coming"

I am finally adding a Jamaican rice and peas recipe to the blog. Its flavorful the rice is perfectly cooked and very flavorful. It’s a staple in most households for Sunday dinner and if you eat lunch daily, it’s the side dish most served with every cooked lunch. Coconut milk, allspice, scallion’s, onions and scotch bonnet pepper are used to flavor this delicious side dish. Once you get the hang of if you are sure to make it all the time, especially for the rice lovers.

 I am 32 years old and I can finally cook a good pot of Jamaican rice and peas with no issues. I did it three weeks in a row using gungo, red peas and black beans just to make sure the first success was not a fluke. I can’t tell you the life struggles I have had with rice and peas.  In the past its either been too soft, too shelly, too salty, burns on the bottom, all manner of evil.

My first encounter with the dish ended up with us cleaning peas from the ceiling.  I was around 13 years old, I put the dried peas in the pressure cooker to cook, they cooked then I added the rice and put it back to pressure. I literally walked out the kitchen for 5 minutes only to hear a loud explosion. The pressure cooker cover was on the floor and there was rice and peas on the ceiling and everywhere. It’s been a uphill battle with rice and please ever since then. To be honest I almost never cook it, I’m always doing pasta, potatoes, every other carb except rice. Look at the blog this is my 365^th post and only 5 of those posts are rice recipes, none using peas.

Today all that changes, through trial and error and using all kinds of tips and measuring, recording the times and using basmati rice, I have come up with a recipe that I call fool proof. Follow it exactly and every time you will get a delicious pot of rice and peas. If you want an exceptional tasting pot, use real fresh coconut milk instead of the canned version. Please note, this recipe is for use with basmati rice. I have not tried it with any other kind of rice so the ratio or water to rice may be different for other types of rice. 

Ingredients (printable recipe)

3 cups basmati rice

6 coconut milk (or a mix of water and coconut milk 6 cups liquid)

1 Onion sliced

1 scotch bonnet pepper (whole)

3 Garlic cloves crushed

1 teaspoon Allspice berries

1 tablespoon Salt

1 tablespoon Sugar

2 stalks Scallion crushed

3 sprigs Thyme

1-2 can red kidney beans

Instructions

• In a large pot bring to boil coconut milk, onion, pepper, garlic, allspice, salt, sugar, scallion and thyme
• Place a wooden spoon across the top of the pot to prevent it from boiling over
• Cut the can peas and strain the liquid, add to the coconut milk mixture
• Add the rice stir and bring the entire mixture to boil, allowing the liquid to evaporate a bit
• Reduce the heat to very low, seal with foil paper and cover with the lid so it fits tight
• Allow the rice to cook for 20 minutes
• Turn off the heat and allow it to sit and steam still covered for about 8 to 10 minutes
• After that remove the foil and lid, remove the hot pepper and use a fork to fluff the rice
• Serve hot.

Greedy tips:

• If you like a lot of peas in the rice use 2 cans
• Make sure not to puncture the hot pepper. As long as it's not cut is give great flavor without the heat
• You can go heavy or light on the coconut milk. Use a mix of water to dilute the coconut milk, as long as the ratio is 1:2 1 cup rice to 2 cups liquid.

Xoxo Greedygirl