Cook-up Rice

I tried, tasted and tried again. Yup - you read right - I experimented with the recipe...and I shouldn't have. Zlamushka's Tried and Tasted event this month features Cynthia's blog, Tastes like Home. I got the recipe for Cook-up Rice (a national dish of Guyana) from Cynthia a while ago, and have been meaning to make it.

Her recipe uses coconut milk, parboiled rice, veggies and black-eyed peas. One evening, everyone was really tired and I wanted a one-dish meal and I thought of this one. I didn't have black-eyed peas and wasn't planning to go out and get some, so I checked the Cook's Thesaurus and it said I could substitute Pigeon Peas (Toor Dal). And I used brown rice instead of parboiled (again, just lazy).

It was ... um... let's just say I decided to follow her recipe next time.

So I made it again the next day. This time, I got the black-eyed peas and I used rosematta rice. And it came out perfectly! Thanks, Cynthia, we are going to make this very often. And the black-eyed peas are a MUST - do not substitute it!!

Cook-up Rice

First brown some onions in a pan and add the black-eyed peas (the peas need to be soaked beforehand). Now add some water and cover and let it cook until the peas are almost done.


Add the veggies and a chopped tomato (I used peas and carrots, but you can use any combination you'd like). Saute for a minute or two.



Then add the rice and continue to stir for a few minutes. She suggests adding thyme, but I didn't have thyme and so I added a seasoning blend that contained thyme!

Now add coconut milk. I added about a 1/2 cup at a time - waited for it to be absorbed into the rice before adding the next 1/2 cup. That way I could control how much the rice was cooked. Stop when the rice is cooked but not mushy.


Definitely a keeper. Thanks for the recipe, Cynthia - this has truly been tried and tasted!



Let's see what the other Recipe Marathoners are up to:
Swati had a leg disaster. Valli got away with mango noodles. DK went to Morocco. Siri made rice. Lakshmi made kootu. Ranji made some authentic Kerala food. Bhags got hummused. Divya got some spicy green action going. No desserts today, sorry.