Ingredients to make Arroz con gandules Puerto Rican:
- 1 tablespoon of achiote oil
- 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
- 1 onion
- ½ green pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 57 grams of Bacon or Ham
- 2 tablespoons of Cilantro
- 1 tomato
- 2 cups of white rice
- 1 cup of cooked pigeon peas
- 3½ cups of Water (840 milliliters)
- 1 pinch of salt and black pepper
- 2 cups minced pork (cooked)
How to make Puerto Rican Arroz con gandules:
- Before starting to cook our rice with pigeon peas, keep in mind that if you don’t have achiote oil you can use olive oil, the same with the cilantro that you can replace with 4 recado leaves.
- To prepare the ingredients, chop all the vegetables finely.
- So, start by heating the oil over medium heat along with the paprika powder. When it is hot, make a sauce of onion with green pepper, garlic and bacon.
- Fry the whole for 4 minutes until the vegetables are soft but not golden.
- Next, add the recao and the tomato. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes or until the tomato juice has evaporated. Then, add the pork along with the rice and stir everything for 1 minute. The idea is to make the rice shiny.
- Now it is the turn of the grains, so add the pigeon peas along with the water. She seasons with salt and pepper to taste and brings to a boil over high heat. When you see that the preparation is already boiling, lower the flame to a minimum and cover the pot.
- Let the rice with pigeon peas cook for about 20 minutes or until all the water is consumed.
- Just before serving, stir the rice with pigeon peas with a fork so that it flakes.
- So that the rice is loose, when all the ingredients are boiling, place a wooden spoon in the middle of the pot, if it moves or wobbles, it means that it has too much liquid, so take advantage and remove the excess.
- Enjoy rice with pigeon peas as a main course. This rice is similar to the Mexican bean and pork dish, although if you prefer to stay with more Puerto Rican recipes, we invite you to review the recipe for cute sweetie, an appetizer that will surprise you.
