With the increase in demand for both vegetarian and gluten free recipes, I thought I’d take one of the most traditional dishes of the Southern Caribbean and remove a key ingredient – meat! Meat lovers can tune in here for the Chicken pelau video. This one pot dish was a must whenever we’d spend a day at the beach, go to the Oval to watch touring cricket teams and whenever pigeon peas was in season. back then freshly shelled peas were used, but today living in North America I have no choice but to reach for the canned stuff. I assure you, you won’t know there isn’t meat in this dish when it’s done ‘bubblin’ and you serve yourself a plate.
You’ll Need…
1 1/2 cups pigeon peas (1 can)
1 large carrot diced
1/2 cup celery (diced)
2 cups rice (brown par boiled)
1.5 cup coconut milk
2.5 cups water
2 scallions
2 pimento peppers (optional)
2 bird’s pepper (bird’s eye)
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1 tablespoon parsley
2 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon veg oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dice, chop and slice the carrot, celery, peppers, scallions and scallions. Drain the can of pigeon peas and rinse with cool water..drain. In a deep pot on medium high heat, add the veg oil, then go in with the brown sugar. As we’ve done with other Caribbean “stewed” dishes, we want to get that rich color and flavor from the caramelized sugar.
This is the only critical step in making this vegetarian pelau as if it goes beyond the amber/frothy color we’re looking for the finished dish WILL have sort of burnt taste and we don’t want that. The sugar will melt, then go a rich golden colour, before going frothy and a deep amber color. This is when we want to go in the diced carrot, celery and pigeon peas. TIP: Use a spoon which can withstand high heat (no plastic), make sure the peas are drained well after washing as we don’t want any liquid and the spoon should have a long handle as the melted sugar can jump-back at you. Move around the vegetables and let it cook/brown for about 4 minutes.
Now you will have a deep brown base to help color the entire dish (pelau isn’t supposed to be pale..according to my mom). Add the other ingredients, with the rice, coconut milk and water going in last.
If you’re new to Caribbean cuisine, you may not know that we wash our rice before cooking. This removes some of the excess starch and any debris that may be in the rice from the mill. You have 2 options. 1 – Place the rice in a strainer and run water through it. Massage and keep rinsing until the water runs clear. Option 2 – place the rice in a deep bowl, cover with water and massage with your hands. the water will go cloudy – drain and repeat until the water is clear.
Go in with the bird’s eye pepper (leave whole so we get flavor and not the raw heat – remember to remove them before serving). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle boil with the lid on the pot. Stir every 5 minutes and cook for about 25-30 minutes.. until all the liquid is gone. Do remember to taste for salt and adjust accordingly. TIP: If you find that the pelau is pale in color you can go in with a bit Caribbean food browning. There are two ways people like their finished pelau. Grainy rice (my way) or a bit overcooked with the rice being a little mushy or creamy. So adjust your cooking time to accommodate your preference.
Besides liking my pelau grainy, it MUST be piping hot – to the point where with every fork full I have to suck air in at the same time to help cool it down or risk burning my mouth. Don’t ask me why – that’s just the way I like it! This vegetarian gluten free recipe is simply outstanding and I assure you meat eaters you will not miss that chicken or salted meats we normally use. Traditionalists will want to reach for that Golden Ray (salted butter) to give it that wicked ‘creole’ taste, but do remember we’re doing this one vegetarian.
If you’d like to request a recipe, hit me on Twitter @Obzokee and we’ll get to it! If you’re doing this recipe gluten free do go through the complete list of ingredients to ensure they meet with your specific gluten free diet.
Based on 44 Review(s)
How many does this serve?
I tried this and it came out great and I was most happy that it looked very similar to thebpic showed. Wish I cld share tge pic
Pelau never had gluten!!! Gluten is a mixture of two proteins usually found in wheat that gives dough its elasticity.
Re: Pelau never had gluten.. basically you’re confirming what I said. I didn’t think anyone mentioned it has gluten in it’s original state. Gluten Free as it’s used in the title is about awareness. So people are aware that the recipe does not contain gluten. That said, if you use soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce etc in flavoring said pelau (even some chicken and veg stock) they may contain gluten rich ingredients. FYI Gluten is also used as a stabilizing agent in more unexpected food products, such as ice cream and ketchup.
Id been waiting for this recipe.
Thanks for this recipe. Can you say if one should cook the peas first if using fresh peas? Thank you.
Always love your creativity…Thanks for sharing
what typ of meat is most frequently used and how is it prepared?
chicken
I just tried this as I recently became a vegetarian and pelau is one of the dishes I miss, no more now! absolutely amazing! thanks Chris!
There is no such thing as vegetarian pelau. Pelau has meat or chicken rice and peas does not. Why do we insist on calling peas and rice vegetarian pelau?
thanks for your sharing your thoughts… the stewing technique is NOT something done for rice and peas. period! It’s the technique used for browning meats (if it were a meat dish) pelau. So If there’s no meat does not make it less a pelau – some say vegetarian.
I was actually looking for a trini pelau recipe that requires brown rice because that’s all i have in my cupboard, usually i make trini pelau (your style) with white rice but this time i want to try it with brown. Thank you so much for giving me this option 🙂
Try putting the peas and rice together they will brown better also with onion and garlic then later the rest of ingredients.
My daughter is a vegetarian and I thought that this would be the way to make pelau for her without meat. Thank you for the recipe! Now I know I was on the right track and she will be able to enjoy it once more!