Pelau (prounounced “pay-law”) is a wonderfully delicious dish from Trinidad that I’m excited to share with you all today.

My husband’s maternal side of the family has Triniadian roots, and when I had to do a cuisine exploration class when I was in culinary school, I leaped at the chance to check out food I’d never had before – my knowledge of Caribbean food before that class basically amounted to “jerk chicken” – and the chance to get in good with my mother-in-law, who is a lovely woman … and who doesn’t want their mother-in-law to like them, right? 🙂

I’ve tried quite a few recipes from Simply Trini Cooking, and have liked all of them thus far, but pelau is definitely my favorite. I serve it with homemade coleslaw, and it’s even better the next day.

Hit the jump after the picture and let’s make some pelau and coleslaw!

I generally don’t put in the hot pepper – my kids are 4, 8, and 12 and if something is “too hot” I’ll never get them to eat it. My husband likes his food spiiiiiicy, so I just let him add his own hot sauce after the fact. Trini lime sauce is delicious on pelau, even if the first time I used it I put too much on, rendering the plate of food inedible. Seriously, Trini lime sauce is one thousand percent ass-kickingly hot. I’ll be posting that recipe at some point, as well.

Pelau is a “one-pot” dish, and I think I’ve added a different ratio of chicken and veggies every time. It all depends on what I have on hand. I usually make it with white rice, but I’ve noticed that that makes it all a really uniform color, so I’ll probably be using brown rice next time.

This meal has three parts – the seasoning for the chicken, the pelau itself, and the coleslaw.

There’s enough to this recipe that it is one that I always always always mise en place – a neat little culinary term meaning “putting in place,” aka getting all your stuff prepped and ready before you start cooking. It makes cooking so much easier, and I recommend it for basically everything.

Green Seasoning

Green seasoning is one of those things that if I have everything for it, that’s awesome … but if I don’t, I’ll probably just fudge it, LOL. I haven’t been able to find any chadon beni (culantro – nope, that’s not a typo; culantro is an herb that is like a stronger, more peppery cilantro), so I’ve always substituted cilantro in this. These ratios can be changed based on your preferences, of course.

Ingredients:

2 celery stalks, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

3-5 tbsp thyme (you can use Italian seasoning if that’s all you have)

handful of cilantro, chopped (I honestly never measure this, I just cut a chunk off of the bunch and use it)

3-4 pimento peppers, rough chopped (I rarely have these)

4-5 stalks chives

1/4 cup lime juice

salt to taste

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and marinate your meat.

Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1 pound green cabbage (about half a medium cabbage), roughly chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

1/2 small white onion, chopped

1 tablespoon distilled vinegar

1/2 cup mayo

1 tbsp white sugar

1 tbsp horseradish

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mayo, sugar, and horseradish. Set aside.

2. In larger bowl (or Tupperware, for easy storage), combine cabbage, carrot, and onion until well mixed.

3. Toss veggies in the sauce. Cover; let sit in the fridge for at least one hour.

4. Mix well before serving; salt and pepper to taste.

Pelau

Ingredients:



1-2 lbs chicken (I cube mine), marinated in green seasoning for at least a half hour

2 tbsp sugar (this is to make your browning)

2 tbsp oil

2 cloves garlic

1 sprig chive (I don’t worry too much if I don’t have this)

1 cup chopped pumpkin

1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped

6-12 small okra (I buy the frozen okra, thaw it, and slice it)

1 cup corn (I use the frozen corn when corn isn’t in season)

15 oz can of black eyed peas (you can also use garbanzo beans or pigeon peas)

1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup

1 bouillon cube (if desired)

1 15 oz can coconut milk

1 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock (you can also use water if you don’t have stock)

1 whole green hot pepper (optional)

1½ cups rice

Method:



1. Get your marinated chicken out of the fridge.

2. Make sure you have your veggies and beans and everything else ready for the pot. 3. In a deep pot heat 2 tablespoons of sugar until slightly brown (this is called, perhaps unsurprisingly, “browning,” and is used to flavor the chicken). Slowly add a couple tablespoons hot water (be careful, it could splatter) and stir. 4. Add the seasoned chicken. 5. Stir in 2 tbsp oil and cook until evenly browned. Continue to simmer. 6. Add all your veggies to the boiling liquid; stir, then add your rice and stir that in. 7. Add the coconut milk, stock, tomato paste and bouillon cube (if you’re using one). If you’re using hot pepper, add that now. Stir well. 8. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the liquid has been absorbed. Be sure to uncover and stir occasionally so the rice doesn’t stick. 9. When the liquid is absorbed, remove from the heat or turn down to low to keep it warm. If you added hot pepper, remove it from the pot prior to serving. 10. Taste it; salt and pepper as needed. 11. Serve pelau with coleslaw or green salad.

Enjoy! Be sure to let me know what you think if you try it!