Pelau
Today I would like to share with you one of my favorite foods, and perhaps a favourite of every Trinidadian; it is pelau. Pelau (pronounced: pay-la-w) is a sure bet for any lime . This "one pot" dish is not time consuming, and is easy to prepare (once you plan your ingredients in advance) which makes it also ideal for picnics and river limes. As we say in Trini "this is ah fas' cook".
This popular rice dish can be cooked with any type of meat or combination of meat: chicken, beef, lamb, goat, pork, and even "wild meat" (agouti, lappe, deer etc.) and is usually cooked with fresh coconut milk. If you don't have fresh coconut milk you can use the coconut milk powder. Some people like their pelau dark, others like it brown or light brown. If you want it dark, be careful not to burn the sugar too much or else the pelau will taste bitter, and lose most of its flavor. I personally, prefer pelau that is not too dark.
Instead of "burning" the sugar, some people buy ready-made browning. This saves time, but you should be careful with the amounts of browning added. Some brands are stronger than others. This dish can be served with a side of cole slaw, lettuce and tomatoes, and even a little bit of homemade pepper sauce for a more spicy taste. What ever your taste, Pelau is what I call real Trini food, maybe it should be made our national dish, after all, Guyana has "Pepper Pot" and Jamaica "Akee and Saltfish".
Update: Check out Pelau II a second pelau recipe which I did later on.
1½ lb chicken, seasoned
1 onion
2 tbsp sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig chive
1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
1 bouillon cube (if desired)
2 cups water
1 cup coconut milk
1 tin processed pigeon peas
(or 1 cups fresh pigeon peas)
1 whole green hot pepper
1½ cups rice
1 cup chopped pumpkin
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
4 small ochros (optional)
1/2 cup whole corn (optional)
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste
Clean the chicken and cut into small pieces. Season with lime juice and salt, pepper, chive, thyme, chadon beni, and parsley. Set aside to marinate. For this post the chicken was marinated overnight in the freezer.
In a deep pot heat 2 tablespoon of sugar until slightly brown.
Continue to simmer.
Prepare the peas, carrots, pumpkin, vegetables and herbs for the pot.
Add it all to the boiling liquid. Stir. Add the rice and coconut milk.
Add water and tomato paste and bouillon cube.If you wish you can add the hot pepper now. Cover.
Uncover and stir occasionally so the rice doesn't stick.
Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the liquid has been absorbed.
Well that's it for another post. More recipes to come. Bye!
.
August 27, 2008 12:19 PM
You forgot the Golden Ray butter lol.
I love pelau and make it at least 1 time a week,it is easy and good when you're short on time,can't beat a one pot meal!
I love that it taste just as well cold as it does hot,so you can take it with you on a lime if you can't cook there.
Also i want to add it taste better the day after ,just like soup!!
August 27, 2008 3:44 PM
I purposely left out the golden ray margarine. Since I've read this article I don't use it at all. But you are right pelau does taste good the day after. :^)
August 29, 2008 3:02 AM
I've tried making pelau before and always has trouble with the rice. What kind of rice did you use, was it just plain white long grain rice or some other kind?
August 29, 2008 9:55 AM
We don't use white rice but rather long grain parboiled rice. Locally it's called brown rice to differentiate it from the white rice that gets sticky when boiled. When using the long grain make sure to wash it out in water before adding it to the pelau.
In many of the recipes posted this is the rice used. Hope this helps; thank you for your comment:^)
January 14, 2009 6:15 PM
Hey! The 1st thing you add, sugar, isn't on your ingredients list! :-)
Awesome recipe!
January 14, 2009 7:35 PM
Thank you for your observation bavaughn! I missed this one, and I've made the corrections. Thank you once again.
January 15, 2009 11:28 AM
No problem. A couple more questions though. In your opinion, is the type of sugar important? I always thought it called for brown cane sugar (which is not so common where I live).
Also, do you just heat the dry sugar? I thought it needed to be melted/browned in oil.
I plan to try your recipe & method tonight
-Brian
January 15, 2009 5:51 PM
Brian, any kind of sugar could be used because in the burning process you would get the brown colour you want. You need to be careful here and not burn the sugar too much or else the pelau will come out too dark or black and taste bitter. We use brown sugar here in Trinidad because it is cheaper than say, granulated sugar.
Traditionally oil was used with the brown sugar to make the browning, I used to do it this way as well, but lately I learnt this method which makes the pelau less oily; That means less calories and a happier heart for you and me. Good Luck tonight! :^)
March 29, 2009 11:22 AM
Hi, I'm planning to make this for my husband's 50th birthday for about 40 people.
How many people are your quantities for?
Thanks..
March 29, 2009 10:38 PM
This pot of pelau will comfortably feed about four people; normal serving size.
May 26, 2009 12:47 PM
This sounds interesting! I never had Trinidad food before, but I love all different int'l flavors, so I'll definitely try this. Thanks!
May 26, 2009 8:09 PM
Please tell me how it comes out!
July 31, 2009 10:34 AM
Do you have a recipe for vegetarian pelau? I have tried a few vegetarian versions so far, but I haven't yet found a great one. I have tasted great vegetarian pelaus before. Never really got the recipe though. Any help? thanks!
Ps. I'm trying to be vegetarian, and I don't really like the taste of chicken in pelau. I usually find myself taking out the chicken whenever I am served this dish. I long for a vegetarian one where I can eat everything on the plate! :-)
July 31, 2009 10:49 AM
Dora thank you so much for your comment. I've had an I-tal ( rastafarian) pelau once and it went down great. Basically all you need to do is instead of browning the meat you could add a meat substitute like soya chunks and follow the rest of the recipe. What you can also do is add some of your favourite veggies together with the peas and pumpkin. Hope this helps.
March 15, 2010 6:27 PM
We already have a national dish; coo coo & callaloo. Although I LOVE Palau, Coo Coo & Callaloo makes for a perfect national dish mainly for its uniqueness.
March 29, 2010 5:28 PM
Just had Pelau this sunday at a friends. I ate the pepper ;-? and it was cruciatingly hot on the tongue, so be sure to remove it. Other than that It was a tasty delight
March 29, 2010 5:38 PM
You ate the pepper Alisha! lol Who told you to eat the pepper?