Passport & Plate - Pelau
Trinidad & Tobago | Monday, March 2, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
2 cups of long-grained rice
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 whole chicken, chopped into pieces (a young chicken will be tenderer)
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized, equal pieces
3 sticks of celery, chopped into bite-sized, equal pieces
3 scallions, chopped (white and green parts)
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 large wiri peppers (or any pepper that produces heat and is tasty)
1 cup dry or 1 (12-ounce) can pigeon peas, pinto beans, or black-eyed peas
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of minced garlic (I love garlic and tend to use a lot. One clove really is the bare minimum.)
Enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan - I used olive oil, but canola works just as well.
Salt
How to prepare this recipeThe first thing you should know about pelau is that the longer and more slowly it cooks, the better.
First, chop the chicken into smaller pieces. After it has been washed and cleaned, season it with your onion, garlic, pepper, parsley, scallions and 1 tbsp of salt. Allow a bit of water to remain from the chicken.
While the chicken marinates, heat the oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or other heavy, deep pot.
Add the sugar and swirl in the pot, stirring constantly; allow it to caramelize to a dark brown color, but don’t let it burn.
Add the chicken and be careful at this point because the oil will be hot and there will be water in the chicken. Have the cover ready to cover the pot as soon as the chicken is in. Allow it to cook for a 1-2 minutes before you start to stir the chicken to coat it with the caramelized sugar. Cook for about 15 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, bay leaf, peas, carrots, 1.5 tbsp of salt, and celery. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the washed, uncooked rice, stir everything together, and then add enough hot water to completely cover the pelau. Cover and cook for another 20 minutes until the rice is moist, but not sticky, and the vegetables are tender.
The pelau is best served with Trinidadian hot pepper sauce. Matouk’s hot pepper sauce is the best and most flavorful.
The story behind this recipeThis recipe was taught to me by my Guyanese mother who moved to Trinidad after she married my father. She learned it from watching her sisters-in-law and friends. When we moved back to Brooklyn, NY, my mom would cook it as a way of reminding us of the islands and home. In fact, to this day I am transported back to the warmth of the sunshine and the smell of the beach whenever I eat it. Even though we don’t make it very often these days, this meal is a special one for us because we always make it whenever we have guests and so I have very lovely and loving memories associated with it. I love making it for friends or family who are visiting because it is a one pot meal and therefore very easy to make with minimal clean up. Pelau is delicious, full of flavor and not very hot (temperature wise) thereby making it the perfect introductory food to Caribbean cooking.
