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Pelau (traditional)

For a healthier dish, no coconut milk is added in this recipe. Caramelizing the Brown sugar: Caramelizing brown sugar is a skill. If all of the brown sugar turns black while sautéing, then this dish will taste bitter, and you will have to start over (*see video in the link below). A simpler option is to omit the oil and sugar process entirely, and sauté the seasoning in 2 tsp of oil. The Liquid Aminos (or Soy sauce) will brown the pigeon peas and seasoning. Click HERE to see the alternative method without caramelizing brown sugar.
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ cup cooked green or brown pigeon peas, drained (keep the liquid to add to the cooking)
  • 1 cup Brown rice Basmati or long grain preferred This makes about 3 cups of cooked rice
  • Water quantity as stated in the instructions on the rice packaging.
  • 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
  • 1 large carrots, about 8-9 inches long, sliced
  • ¾ cup diced pumpkin (1-inch cubes)
  • 2 tsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tbsp Liquid Aminos (if not available then use Soy sauce or Tamari sauce)
  • 1 tbsp Brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
  • ¾ cup chopped onions
  • ¾ cup chopped sweet peppers (Bell, pimento, mini peppers)
  • 3-4 large garlic cloves 1 ½ - 2 tbsp minced or finely chopped garlic
  • 5 sprigs of thyme, or 1 tbsp dry thyme
  • 1 heaping tbsp freshy chopped oregano leaves (½ tbsp dry oregano)
  • 1 heaping tbsp freshly chopped parsley (½ tbsp dry parsley)
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • 3 culantro leaves, chopped (optional)
  • Chopped hot pepper or chili flakes, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Heat a large skillet or pot over medium heat.
  • Caramelizing Method with Brown Sugar: Add the oil then add the brown sugar on top of the oil to caramelize the sugar. All of the sugar should be soaked in the oil. Keep looking at the oil and as soon about 90% of the sugar turns dark brown, then add the pigeon peas without its liquid, and gently stir for 30 seconds to completely brown the pigeon peas.
  • Add onions and ¼ tsp of salt, and stir gently for two minutes, until onions are translucent.
  • Add the peppers and stir for 2 minutes.
  • Add garlic and stir for 1 minute.
  • Add tomato paste and the remainder of seasoning (except the carrots) - oregano, parsley, scallions, thyme, hot pepper to taste, culantro, mushrooms, pumpkin, and Liquid Aminos (if you did not ad it in the earlier step). Gently stir into mixture thoroughly for 30 seconds.
  • Add ¼ cup of water, stir, cover pot, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes so that all the ingredients will blend to a nice flavor. You may need to add a bit of water after 5 minutes to prevent sticking.
  • Add rice, ketchup, carrots, and 1 ¾ cup of water (see rice package for correct amount of water you need), stir, cover the pot, reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes. (see rice cooking time on rice package).
  • Tip: You can also replace some of the water with the liquid from the canned pigeon peas.
  • Do not open the lid until after 25 minutes of cooking. You can check the water level then.

Notes

*Don’t like to cook? Then you can replace the seasoning above with an equivalent amount of mixed dry seasoning or Caribbean bottled seasoning.
Cooking with rice effectively requires a pot cover that does not have any vent holes. Use a pot with a lid that can completely close.
Pairing:
Serve with vegan coleslaw, a salad or cooked vegetables, and stew beans or dhal. Also good with fried plantains.
*See this LINK for how to caramelize brown sugar – scroll down to the middle to view video.