Pigeon pea rice, also known as arroz de gandules, is a flavorful and traditional dish originating from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. A comforting and hearty meal, it is typically prepared using pigeon peas, a type of small bean with a distinctively nutty flavor, along with aromatic sofrito, flavorful rice, and an array of vibrant spices. This tantalizing dish has become a staple in many households and is commonly served as an accompaniment to main courses or as a main dish itself. Whether you are a seasoned cook or a culinary novice, this guide will provide you with everything you need to create an authentic and delectable pigeon pea rice dish.
Here are our top 8 tried and tested recipes!
ARROZ CON GANDULES (PIGEON PEAS RICE)
This delicious rice is the side dish of choice at every Dominican and Puerto Rican holiday dinner. Made with pigeon peas and a mixture of Latin seasonings, this popular rice dish is perfect for Nochebuena.
Provided by Vanessa
Categories Side Dish
Time 35m
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- In a food processor, pulse the onion, bell pepper, garlic and cilantro until all is chopped very small to make the sofrito.
- In a large cast-iron pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute the sofrito mixture, tomato sauce, chicken bouillon cubes, sazon, oregano, adobo, black pepper and alcaparrado for about 2-3 minutes until vegetables begin to release aroma.
- Add the pigeon peas with it's liquid and 2 cups of water. When the water begins to boil, add the rice, stirring occasionally to avoid from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the rice has soaked up all the water and begins to dry up, lower the heat to low. Cover and let cook for 25 minutes. Then, stir the rice carefully and cover for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 375 kcal, Carbohydrate 70 g, Protein 9 g, Fat 6 g, SaturatedFat 4 g, Sodium 100 mg, Fiber 5 g, Sugar 1 g, ServingSize 1 serving
ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)
Feed a crowd with this authentic Arroz con Gandules recipe, which was handed down to me from my mom. It's a staple with the "familia" at all our gatherings. -Evelyn Robles, Oak Creek, Wisconsin
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Side Dishes
Time 45m
Yield 18 servings (3/4 cup each).
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- In a Dutch oven, cook Sofrito in oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add rice and sazon; cook and stir until rice is lightly toasted, 3-4 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until rice is tender, 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 220 calories, Fat 5g fat (1g saturated fat), Cholesterol 14mg cholesterol, Sodium 537mg sodium, Carbohydrate 38g carbohydrate (1g sugars, Fiber 2g fiber), Protein 6g protein.
PIGEON PEA RICE "ARROZ DE GANDULES"
Provided by Tyler Florence
Categories side-dish
Time 4h30m
Yield 10 to 12 servings
Number Of Ingredients 15
Steps:
- Put the pigeon peas, bay leaves, and garlic in a large pot, cover with 3 quarts of cold water, and place over medium heat. Cover and cook the beans until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Check the water periodically; add more, if necessary, to keep the peas covered. Drain the pigeon peas and reserve 4 cups of the cooking liquid.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Coat a large Dutch oven or other ovenproof pot with the achiote oil and place over medium heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the onion, minced garlic, and peppers. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened, without letting them brown. Stir in the cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Mix in the rice and stir. Add the reserved pigeon peas cooking liquid and stir. Add the peas, salt and lime juice. Top with a lid and place into the oven. Continue to cook until the liquid is evaporated, about 20 to 30 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
- To make the achiote oil, pour the oil and achiote seeds in a pot or skillet. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes; the oil will be reddish-orange from the achiote. Strain the oil and discard the achiote seeds.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE AND PIGEON PEAS)
This recipe starts with fresh pigeon peas and I am translating it from Spanish. It comes from an old cookbook, originally published in 1954 called "Cocina Criolla" by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli who was born in 1912. So I suppose she would know Puerto Rican cooking if anyone does!
Provided by threeovens
Categories Rice
Time 1h15m
Yield 6-8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 16
Steps:
- Soak pigeon peas overnight in 6 cups of water; drain and discard water.
- In a large, covered pot, combine peas with 4 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 30 minutes.
- Season with salt and cook 15 minutes more; drain, reserving 3 cups of the cooking liquid (you may need to add more water to end up with the 3 cups).
- Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, lightly brown the bacon and ham; add in the remaining sofrito ingredients and saute, over low heat until all the ingredients are tender and the tomatoes break down.
- Stir in the additional ingredients and combine well; stir in the peas and rice.
- Add the 3 cups of reserved cooking liquid and let cook, uncovered, until almost dry (it will look like little volcanos are erupting); stir up the rice from the bottom.
- Cover and turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let cook 30 minutes, turning the rice, from the bottom, once halfway through cooking.
- NOTE: This is how the dish is supposed to be cooked. I prefer to add the olives after the last turning of the rice for a "cleaner" flavor.
PIGEON PEA RICE (ARROZ DE GANDULES)
Provided by Tyler Florence
Categories side-dish
Time 2h10m
Yield 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 16
Steps:
- Put the pigeon peas and bay leaves in a large pot, cover with 3 quarts of cold water, and place over medium heat. Cover and cook the beans until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Check the water periodically; add more, f necessary, to keep the peas covered. Drain the pigeon peas and reserve 4 cups of the cooking liquid.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Coat a large Dutch oven or other ovenproof pot with the achiote oil and place over medium heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the onion, garlic, and peppers. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened, without letting them brown. Pour in the chicken broth and continue to cook until the liquid is evaporated. Stir in the cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Mix in the rice and reserved pigeon peas. Pour in the reserved 4 cups of pigeon pea cooking liquid, lime juice, and salt; stir everything together. Cover and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
- To make the achiote oil, pour the oil and achiote seeds in a pot or skillet. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes; the oil will be reddish-orange from the achiote. Strain the oil, discard the achiote seeds and set aside to cool.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)
Steps:
- Heat your caldero or Dutch oven to medium heat, and add your olive oil, bacon/ham (if using) and sofrito. Stir constantly until fragrant and tender, but not browned, about 4 minutes.
- Next add in the Sazon, tomato sauce or paste and chicken bouillon. Stir to combine.
- Add in the drained pigeon peas, Italian seasoning or oregano, bay leaves, and water/broth. Add the cilantro and/or olives, if using. Allow the liquid to come up to a boil, and taste it for salt. If it needs more saltiness, add in another chicken bouillon cube. You want this liquid to be highly seasoned, as it will determine the final seasoning of the rice.
- Once the mixture is boiling, add the rice. Stir the rice to get it submerged and distribute the pigeon peas throughout.
- Cover and allow the rice to absorb all the visible liquid. Once most of the visible surface liquid is absorbed, stir the rice, and cover again. Lower the flame to low, and allow it to steam for 20-25 minutes. It's done with all the liquid is absorbed and the grains are fluffy and fully cooked.
ARROZ CON GANDULES (PUERTO RICAN RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)
Every step and ingredient adds something important to this recipe from the Puerto Rican-born chef and writer Reina Gascón-López. Annatto seeds steeped in oil give the rice its signature marigold hue. The banana leaf imparts a subtle tropical aroma to the rice as it cooks. Olives, ham, beer and peppers with their brine offer salt, fat, acid, umami and a bright pop of color. The sheer number of flavors layered into this dish make it a delight to unpack. The most exhilarating layer is the last one: pegao, the crisp, glassy shards of rice at the bottom of the pot. Gandules (pigeon peas) make this version of rice and beans distinctly Caribbean. Ms. Gascón-López prefers to start with dry gandules, which her family sometimes ships to her from Puerto Rico, then flavors the pot with some sofrito, a bay leaf or two and a smoked pork neck. If you have trouble finding dry pigeon peas, they are often labeled as toor at Indian grocery stores.
Provided by Samin Nosrat
Categories dinner, grains and rice, vegetables, main course
Time 1h30m
Yield 4 to 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 24
Steps:
- Lay 1 banana leaf (or more, if needed) flat on a large cutting board, then set the lid of a large Dutch oven or similar pot on top. Use a paring knife to trace around the lid, and cut the leaf (or leaves) so that they will fit properly inside the pot. Cover with a clean dishcloth and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, cook the neutral oil and annatto seeds over medium heat, allowing the seeds to infuse the oil. After 2 to 3 minutes, when the oil begins to bubble and the seeds start to crackle, turn off the heat and allow the oil to cool completely. Pour the cool oil through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving seeds for another round of infusing, if desired.
- Make the sofrito: Use a food processor or high-speed blender to pulse the onion, red and green bell peppers, cubanelle pepper, garlic, cilantro, scallions, ají dulce peppers (if using) and culantro (if using), adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if needed to achieve a smooth, salsa-like consistency. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon sazón and set aside. (The sofrito makes about 2 cups. Refrigerate it for up to 5 days or portion it into ice cube trays or plastic containers, and freeze up to 6 months.)
- Set the large Dutch oven or similar pot over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons annatto oil and the ham or fatback. Sauté until crisp and most of the fat has rendered, about 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sofrito, the olives and 1 tablespoon sazón, stirring until sofrito is fragrant, about 3 minutes.
- Next, add pigeon peas and sauté for another 3 minutes. Season with adobo, salt and black pepper to taste.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add rice, stirring until grains are all coated, seasoned and starting to toast. If there isn't enough oil to generously coat all of the rice and peas in the pot, add the remaining tablespoon of annatto oil. This will help form a delicious golden bottom crust called pegao.
- Once the rice is toasted, stir in the beer and cook for about 3 minutes, then add the reserved pigeon-pea liquid (or 2 1/2 cups water) and roasted red pepper brine. Taste the cooking liquid and adjust salt as needed; it should be pleasantly salty.
- Gently stir rice, then spread about half the thinly sliced roasted red pepper over the rice. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover rice with prepared banana leaves, then cover pot with its lid and cook for 22 minutes.
- Once the time has passed, remove the lid, open the banana leaves and gently fold the rice onto itself from the outside in to form a mound in the center of the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, replace banana leaves and lid and continue cooking for 20 to 25 minutes to allow pegao to form at the bottom of the pot.
- To serve, spoon rice atop a platter layered with fresh banana leaves. Garnish with remaining sliced roasted peppers. Use a metal spatula to scrape pegao out of the pot and serve on a separate plate. Be careful, because everyone will fight over it!
ARROZ CON GANDULES (RICE WITH PIGEON PEAS)
This is a recipe that my mother-in-law taught me how to make. It is from Puerto Rico and is a traditional dish for many meals. Gandules (or pigeon peas) is a type of bean and can be found in most Spanish or Latin stores; they are distributed and labeled by Goya. Bijol can also be found in Spanish stores, in a small yellow round container. It is a yellow food coloring spice, something like paprika or turmeric. This is a great recipe...everyone who tries it raves about it. It's worth hunting for the ingredients...I guarantee it!
Provided by rdmontes
Categories Long Grain Rice
Time 1h30m
Yield 8 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 17
Steps:
- In a large pot, fry salt pork in olive oil until halfway done; add ham and continue frying.
- Add rice and sauté until rice is browned.
- Add about ¾ cup to 1 cup sofrito (more or less to taste), tomato sauce and canned tomatoes.
- Add gandules (drained and rinsed) and 4 cups of water.
- Add olives and capers, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper to taste and bijol (for color).
- Cook uncovered over medium-high heat 10 minutes, then cover, lower heat and continue cooking 15-20 minutes until done.
- Sofrito: Blend 1 Bunch Cilantro, 1 red pepper, 1 onion, 1 green pepper and 1 head garlic in blender until smooth. (Leftover Sofrito can be freezed and used in beans, soups, etc.).
Nutrition Facts : Calories 633.3, Fat 14, SaturatedFat 4.8, Cholesterol 22.3, Sodium 755.1, Carbohydrate 104.7, Fiber 12.2, Sugar 5.6, Protein 22.7
Tips:
- For the most flavorful rice, use fresh pigeon peas. If you're using dried pigeon peas, be sure to soak them overnight before cooking.
- Use a heavy-bottomed pot to cook the rice. This will help to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Don't stir the rice too much while it's cooking. Stirring the rice too much can make it gummy.
- Let the rice rest for a few minutes before serving. This will help the rice to absorb all of the flavors from the other ingredients.
- Serve the rice with your favorite sides. Some popular sides for pigeon pea rice include fried plantains, stewed chicken, and black beans.
Conclusion:
Pigeon pea rice is a delicious and easy-to-make dish that is perfect for a weeknight meal. With its combination of savory pigeon peas, fluffy rice, and flavorful spices, this dish is sure to please everyone at the table. So next time you're looking for a new recipe to try, give pigeon pea rice a try. You won't be disappointed!
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