Moro de guandules (pigeon pea rice)

I made moro de guandules over the holidays and one of my guests asked for the recipe. I would normally refer people to the Dominican Cooking website and maybe this recipe, but I like mine better.

Definition of moro in Dominican cooking: any combination of rice and legumes in which the previously cooked legumes are then prepared with the rice in the same dish. Popular types of moro are black bean moro and red bean moro. Pigeon peas are one of my favorite legumes and since they are not as widely produced as other types of beans, it is always a treat to have them. In the U.S., I’ve only been able to get them frozen or in cans (at the Latin food stores) but it is a pleasure to visit the DR and help remove the freshly harvested peas right off their pods at my mom’s hometown kitchen.

Photo credits: Article El Sol de Cleveland “Los Guandules de Navidad” and Akshay Seed Tech Co. website.

Pigeon peas are different from regular peas in that they are not sweet and cannot be eaten uncooked. They are to sweet peas what plantains are to bananas.

The recipe:

In the Dominican Republic, rice is usually a main dish, so quantities would call for more, but I’ve modified my recipe for the U.S. where people presumably eat less rice. This dish goes well with meat (see stewed chicken recipe) and green/avocado salad. Enjoy!

Serves 4 people:

Two and a half cups of uncooked rice (medium grain calrose/Japanese style or Jazmine rice is what I like best)

Water: two cups per every cup of rice

A can of pigeon peas (guandules or gandules)

Salt to taste

Four to five garlic cloves, peeled and mashed/crushed

A quarter of a big red onion, chopped

Two tablespoons of fresh cilantro, finely chopped (cilantro is the secret ingredient in this dish. If you don’t have it, you’ll need to use chicken bouillon for flavor, but the taste won’t be as organic)

Other herbs good to add but not essential: oregano, parsley

a quarter of a green/red pepper, chopped

Optional: for color, add one tablespoon of tomato paste or two tomatoes, chopped

Three to four tablespoons of cooking oil

I usually have all of the above seasonings premixed and chopped in a jar. See my sazón or season-all recipe. It saves quite a bit of time and the aged seasonings add good flavor to any dish mentioned in this post.

Preparation:

Heat up the oil in a medium pan. Add the onion until it is almost crispy and then add the garlic. Stir, add the peppers, the cilantro and the tomato paste or chopped tomatoes. Stir, add a small amount of water to continue to melt the paste into the mix if you’re using paste. Add the can of pigeon peas and the rest of the water and wait until it comes to a boil. Add salt to taste.  The total amount of water should be a cup and a half of water per cup of rice or a little less if you like your rice looser and granier. Add the rice when the water is boiling stirring ocassionally until all the water has evaporated. At that point, lower the fire to low and cover the pot. Wait 15 to 20 minutes and stir the rice. Add the last spoon of oil and cover again. Try the rice to see if it is done. If it is, let sit for 5 more minutes and serve. If not, keep the rice covered in low fire until it reaches the cooking point you like. Enjoy!

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