- 35 minutes
- Prep 5 minutes
- Cook 30 minutes
- Serves 4
Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.
Ingredients
- 1 tin (400ml) coconut milk
- 2 spring onions, trimmed and lightly squashed with the flat of a knife
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme (about 5g)
- A quarter teaspoon ground allspice (also called pimento)
- 1 scotch bonnet chilli, left whole and not cut
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tin (400g) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 250g long-grain rice
Let's cook
- Pour the coconut milk into a medium pan that has a tight lid. Fill the empty tin a quarter full with water (about 100ml), swirl it and add it to the pan.
- Add the spring onions, garlic, thyme, allspice, the whole scotch bonnet and the salt. Bring it to a gentle simmer on a medium heat and let it bubble for 5 minutes so the flavours go into the milk. Do not let the scotch bonnet burst: whole, it only gives a gentle warmth.
- While it simmers, put the rice in a sieve and rinse it under the cold tap, moving it with your fingers, until the water runs almost clear. This washes off loose starch so the grains stay separate.
- Stir the kidney beans and the rice into the pan. Turn the heat up and bring it back to the boil. The liquid should sit just above the rice; if it does not, add a splash of water.
- Turn the heat down as low as it goes, put the lid on and cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid.
- Take the pan off the heat and leave it, lid on, for 5 minutes. Lift out the scotch bonnet, the thyme stalks and the spring onions with a spoon, then gently fluff the rice with a fork and serve.
Tips
- Keep the scotch bonnet whole. If it splits, the rice turns hot, so lift it out carefully.
- A heavy pan with a snug lid stops the coconut milk catching on the bottom.
- Cool any leftover rice quickly, keep it in the fridge for no more than a day and reheat it until steaming hot all the way through.
Swaps
- Traditional pigeon peas or gungo peas: use a 400g tin of either in place of the kidney beans.
- Lighter: use half a tin of coconut milk and make up the rest with water.
- For children: leave out the scotch bonnet altogether.
Tags
In Feed the family, Plant powered.
None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. Coconut is not counted as a tree nut under UK rules.
Check every packet for allergens.