Rice and peas is a regular side dish in Caribbean cuisine and it goes good with jerk chicken, curry goat, or fish. This exciting dish is full of flavors from spices, herbs, and coconut milk. It goes well with any meal. In case you’re preparing a family meal for a special event, this dish will be pleasant for everyone. Here’s how to make this wonderful and relaxing dinner!
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- ¾ cup dried kidney beans
- 1 tin coconut milk
- 3 cups long-grain white rice
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 stalks scallion, chopped
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (whole, preferably green)
- A small piece of ginger, crushed
- ½ tsp pimento berries
- 1 tsp Tropical Spices All-purpose Seasoning (available at Tropical Spice Shop)
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 cup water
Method/Instructions
Step 1: Preparing the Beans
To begin, wash the dry kidney beans and soak them in a lot of water. If you let them soak up overnight then it is really cut down on the cooking time. In case you don’t have much time, a few hours will be okay, but overnight is good for beans that are soft.
Step 2: Cooking the Beans
Put the soaked beans and the water they were soaked in into a big saucepan. Add the mash garlic and 1 cup of water to this. Bring everything to a boil over medium flame. After the water boils, turn down the heat and let it stew for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the beans are soft. If you want to cook the beans faster, you may use a pressure cooker for 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 3: Flavoring the Pot
It’s time to add the seasoning after the beans get soften and cooked. Add the entire scotch bonnet pepper (don’t cut it; simply leave it whole for taste), coconut milk, thyme, sliced scallion, pimento berries, ginger, Tropical Spices All-Purpose Seasoning, and salt. Taste the mixture and add more spices if needed.
Step 4: Adding the Rice
After washing the rice properly to get rid of extra starch, put it in the saucepan with the beans and coconut combination. Check that the water level is approximately an inch over the rice. Use a fork to mix the beans into the rice so that they are properly spread out.
Step 5: Cooking the Rice
Put the cover on the saucepan and let everything boil again. After it boils, turn the heat down to low and let it stew for approximately 20 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. After that, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let the rice cook for 10 more minutes. This process makes the rice soft and lets all those great flavors soak in.
Step 6: Final Touches
Take out the scotch bonnet pepper (if you don’t want it in the meal) and use a fork to fluff the rice when it is done cooking. The rice and beans should be cooked just right, and the coconut milk will make it rich and creamy.
Serving Suggestions
You can have rice and peas with jerk chicken, curried goat, or fish, but it may also be a vegetarian meal on its own. Add some sautéed vegetable or a fresh salad to create a whole dinner. The spice from the scotch bonnet pepper gives it a nice kick, but you can change the quantity or leave it out completely if you want a milder version.
Pro Tips
- If you want to save time then use ready-made kidney beans but soaked and boiled beans deliver more authentic flavours.
- When you cook the beans, add up a little piece of dried pimento or allspice berries to make them more flavor.
- Let the rice sit for a longer time after cooking, let all the flavours mix together, which makes it taste better.
This Caribbean-style Rice and Peas is a great mixture of spicy, creamy, and salty flavours that will bring your taste buds straight to the island! For high quality seasonings and spices make sure to check out Tropical Spices at Tropical Spice Shop.
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