Gungo Rice & Peas

Ingredients

200 g (1.38 cups) dry gungo peas Use tinned gungo (see notes)

500 g (2.7 cups) basmati rice see notes

400 ml (1.69 cups) home-made coconut milk, use less coconut milk if using canned (see notes)

35 g (1.23 oz) chopped onion

20 g (0.71 oz) chopped scallion

2 cloves garlic

1 Scotch bonnet pepper

3 sprigs thyme

5 pimento berries (allspice)

1 1/4 tsps salt

Water

Ginger (optional)

METHOD

Wash the gungo peas and pour away the water. In fresh, clean water, leave to soak overnight.

Pour away the water. Add the gungo peas to a pot with fresh water, 1 tsp salt, garlic, pimento berries (allspice), and ginger. Cover and put to cook on medium to high heat. Cook until the peas are soft, which may take over a hour. (I would suggest using a pressure cooker to cook the peas for 30 to 45 minutes.) Check the pot every so often to make sure there is enough liquid to cook the beans. Add water as needed.

Add the coconut milk, 1/4 tsp salt, scallion, thyme, onion and Scotch bonnet pepper to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. At this point, taste to decide if you want more salt.

Wash the rice and add it to the pot. Stir to prevent the rice from clumping together. Add hot water so that the liquid in the pot is an inch and a half above the rice. Cover the pot, turn the heat to low, leave to steam until all the water evaporates.

Turn the stove off and let the rice sit for a few minutes. Remove the Scotch bonnet pepper and serve.

Notes

You only need one tin of gungo peas for this recipe. If you use dry beans, you won't need to soak or pre-cook the gungo before adding the rice. It can take over an hour before gungo peas soften. Gungo peas aren't as red kidney beans.

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