Long grain rice, cooked in coconut milk with beans, a favorite side dish of Jamaica.
When doing research for our recent Jamaican goat curry recipe, what came up most often as an accompaniment was something those from Jamaica call “rice and peas”. (Several commenters suggested this dish too.)
Traditionally the “peas” are pigeon peas, often substituted with kidney beans (which is what we are using). The rice is cooked in coconut milk.
Oh my gosh. This is one of those I-can’t-wait-to-make-it-again dishes. Think of it as a Caribbean version of a Cajun red beans and rice.
Our version is a little different from the traditional rice and peas in that we sauté onion and garlic to start the recipe, then add a little fresh grated ginger for added zing.
Serve it with curry, roasted meats, jerk chicken or all by itself. The rice is especially good with a little lime juice sprinkled on to serve.
Coconut Rice and Beans Recipe
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6-8
The chile is cooked whole with the rice and is there just for a bit of flavor. It doesn’t make the rice hot at all, as it stays whole and you discard it at the end.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 cups long-grain rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 1/2 cups cooked kidney beans
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 whole Scotch bonnet chile (can substitute a whole habanero)
- Lime (optional)
Method
1 Sauté onions: Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes, until they begin to brown on the edges.
2 Add garlic and rice: Add the garlic and rice, stir well and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
3 Add remaining ingredients: Add the grated ginger, salt, water, stock and coconut milk and stir well. Add the kidney beans and sprinkle the thyme over everything. Add the whole Scotch bonnet chile (or habanero); it will season the rice much like a bay leaf would.
4 Cook: Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cover. The rice should be done in about 15-20 minutes, depending on the type of rice you are using (some long grained rice takes longer to cook). Check after 15 minutes.
5 Remove from heat, cover: Once done, remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes.
6 Serve: Fluff with a fork. Sprinkle with a little lime juice if you want. Discard the habanero (or eat it, if you dare!)
