Pelau

Ingredients

• Chicken — in pieces1.2 kg
• Long-grain rice500 g
• Pigeon peas — half-cooked300 g
• Coconut milk400 ml
• Brown sugar3 tbsp
• Green seasoning4 tbsp
• Onion1
• Carrot1
• Pumpkin200 g
• Scotch bonnet1
• Ketchup2 tbsp
• Vegetable oil60 ml
• Coleslaw — to serve300 g
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Marinate the chicken in the green seasoning, ketchup, salt and pepper for at least an hour.

   65 min

2. 2

   Heat the oil in a heavy pot and add the sugar, without stirring it with a spoon.

   5 min

3. 3

   Wait until the sugar darkens almost to black and starts to smoke, and put the chicken in at once.

   5 min

4. 4

   Fry the chicken, turning it in the caramel, until every piece is dark brown.

   12 min

5. 5

   Add the onion, carrot, pumpkin and pigeon peas and warm them five minutes.

   7 min

6. 6

   Add the rinsed rice, pour in the coconut milk and water to a finger above and drop in the whole chilli.

   6 min

7. 7

   Cover and cook twenty-five minutes on a low heat without opening it. Serve with coleslaw.

   28 min

About the dish

The chicken is caramelised in burnt sugar — that is the defining move of pelau. The sugar is taken almost to black and the meat goes in at the moment it begins to smoke.

The moment is judged by eye: too early and the dish is sweet, too late and it is bitter. Trinidadians say it takes years to learn, and that is not an exaggeration.

The pigeon peas go in half-cooked, with the rice. They finish in the same time and stay whole; cooked soft they turn pelau to porridge.

Worth knowing

• — The sugar moment decides everything. If it stays pale the pelau turns sweet; if it goes to black smoke you have to start again.
• — Green seasoning is a Trinidadian blend of coriander, spring onion, thyme and garlic. It is made in quantity and keeps a week in the fridge.
• — Do not lift the lid. Every opening lets steam out and the top layer of rice stays hard.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

720 kcal

Protein

42 g

Fat

26 g

Carbs

82 g

More from Trinidad and Tobago

• Doubles — Two soft fried breads called bara with spiced chickpea channa between them. Trinidad's street breakfast.
• Callaloo — A thick purée of taro leaves with okra and coconut milk. The Trinidadian Sunday table.
• Trinidad roti — A layered flatbread beaten into rags on the pan, served with chicken or goat curry.