Arroz con gandules or rice with pigeon peas is Puerto Rican signature dish. I’ve never had it before and decided to give it a try when I saw it in the Puerto Rican Cookery cookbook by Carmen Aboy Valldeyjuli. Arroz con gandules is usually served during holiday time or in special occasion. The rice along with pigeon peas, meat (usually ham, pork, or turkey) and other spices and herbs are all cooked in one pot. The dish rich yellowish color comes from achiote coloring (often known as annato seeds/achuete seeds). This is definitely a complete meal on its own and a very flavorful one. We love it !!!
ARROZ CON GANDULES / RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS
Ingredients
- 1 lb canned pigeon peas / gandules (I used the GOYA brand)
- 1 ½ cup rice
- 1 ½ cups of water
- 4 oz of lean cured ham (diced)
- 3 Tbsp of Achiote (annato) coloring (recipe below): 2 cups of vegetable oil + 1 cup of achiote seeds
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled and finely chopped)
- 1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
- 3 sweet chili peppers (seeded and chopped)
- 6 fresh culantro leaves (chopped)
- 1 tomato (diced)
- 6 pimento-stuffed olives
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 1 Tbsp salt
Instructions
- Soak the achiote seeds in warm water for about 10 minutes, then drain off water and pat the seeds dry with absorbent paper towel. In a sauce pan, heat about 2 cup of vegetable oil. add in the achiote seeds and stir-fry for about 5 minutes. The oil will turn into rich orange-red color. Strain the oil into a glass container and let it cool off completely. Cover and store in refrigerator and use whenever needed
- Drain the pigeon peas off the can, but save the drained liquid. Combine this with water to make up to total of 2 cups. Wash the rice thoroughly, drain, and soak in the liquid for 30 minutes and drain off the liquid
- In a heavy-bottomed pot, browned the ham for about 1 minute and then add in the achiote coloring, garlic, green pepper, sweet peppers, culantro leaves, and tomato and saute for another 10 minutes
- Add in olives, tomato sauce, and salt. Add in the pigeon peas and stir to mix everything. Add the rice along with the liquid and then bring to a boil. Lower the heat and then let it simmer for the next 30 minutes or until the rice are fluffy. Serve warm or at room temperature
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