← Nouns Cooking · Caribbean

Ingredients

• 400 g Long-grain rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 1 can kidney beans (400 g can), drained and rinsed
• 400 ml Coconut milk
• 350 ml Water
• 2 Spring onion, lightly crushed
• 2 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 1 Scotch bonnet chilli, left whole
• ¼ tsp ground allspice (or 6 whole berries)
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Black pepper

Method

1. Pour the coconut milk and water into a heavy saucepan with a tight lid. Add the beans, spring onions, garlic, thyme, allspice, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
2. Stir in the rinsed rice and sit the whole scotch bonnet on top. Bring back to a gentle boil.
3. Cover tightly, turn the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 20 min without lifting the lid.
4. Check the rice: it should be tender with all the liquid absorbed. If it is still firm, sprinkle over a few spoonfuls of water, cover and cook for 5 min more.
5. Turn off the heat and let it steam, covered, for 5 min. Lift out the pepper, thyme stalks and spring onion, then fluff with a fork.

Tips

• Keep the scotch bonnet whole and unbroken: it gives fragrance, not fire. Burst it and the whole pot gets very hot.
• Cool leftover rice quickly, refrigerate within an hour and eat within a day; reheat until piping hot.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

CaribbeanPot.com Cook Like a Jamaican BBC Good Food