Known as ‘rice and peas’, this traditional West Indian dish actually uses beans – usually kidney beans – not peas. These are cooked with the rice in a rich, aromatic coconut milk broth. It makes a deeply satisfying side dish, whether you serve it with spicy West Indian jerk chicken or pork, or something less authentic, such as simply grilled pork chops.
Serves 4–6
200g basmati rice
1 tablespoon rapeseed or sunflower oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 large sprig of thyme (optional)
400ml tin coconut milk
400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the rice into a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak for about 30 minutes. Stir well to rinse off some of the starch, then tip into a sieve and rinse well under the cold tap. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and sauté gently for about 10 minutes. Add the rice, garlic, allspice, thyme, if using, ½ teaspoon salt and some pepper. Pour in the coconut milk and 200ml water, stir well and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat, cover and cook at the gentlest possible simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the kidney beans and simmer, covered, for a further 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and leave to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Now remove the thyme, if added, and give the rice a good stir. Taste before serving – to see if it needs a little more salt and pepper.
PLUS ONE OR TWO For a touch of heat, nestle a whole, fierily hot Scotch bonnet or habanero chilli into the rice during cooking. Keep the chilli whole and remove it before serving – it’s too fierce to eat, but will have lent some of its fruity heat to the rice. Hot or not, rice and peas is excellent scattered generously with coarsely chopped coriander.
SWAPS Kidney beans are by no means essential: little black-eyed beans work well, as do borlotti or cannellini.