Enjoy my recipe for Diri Kole...Red Beans and Rice....I kid you not I can eat it by itself...No Sos,
13 cups of water
1 1/2 cup of Red Kidney Beans
2 teaspoons salt or add salt to taste
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves (peeled)
1 scallion (rinsed and coarsely chopped discarding the white root)
2 1/2 Cups jasmine rice
3 whole cloves
1 green Scotch bonnet pepper
3 thyme sprigs
2 parsley Sprigs ( leaves only, discard stems)
1 to 2 tablespoons of Andui
4 tbsp Butter
*Side Note: Bad beans and rocks don't belong in a good pot of Diri Kole.. Always sort through your beans before cooking. No matter where you buy your beans or how much you pay for them never assume that they are free of debris or rocks. You must always sort through your dry beans.
**Sift through beans carefully discarding any broken or discolored beans.....but what you're mainly looking for are Pebbles... Sometimes bags of dry beans may have one to two Pebbles or small stones in the bag. This occurs during harvesting... Unlike in the fairy tales "Bean stalks" do not grow high into the sky... in fact they actually grow very close to the ground. During harvesting sometimes a small pebble that resembles the shape and size of an actual bean may not be discarded during the sifting process... So it is up to you to make sure that there aren't any rocks or pebbles in your beans... It would be pretty awkward to have a dinner guest bite into a stone while eating your Diri Kole.. Someone can literally chip their tooth... ( Can you imagine if it were your mother-in-law... Or a nice romantic dinner you prepared for your partner....I'd fall OUT!!!)
LET'S BEGIN!
After sifting through beans.... rinse the beans in cold water before cooking.. Let's talk , some people soak their beans overnight to shorten the boiling time... I prefer not to soak my beans because when soaking beans sometimes the skin of the bean may separate and wrinkled .....which in my opinion does not yield a beautiful rice. It's not a big deal if you do not soak your beans ....the only thing is you will have to cook your beans an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Step 1. In a large pot add rinsed beans and 13 cups of water. Add salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat for about 50 -60 minutes until the beans are fork tender. Beans should crush with minimal resistance when pressed ( be sure to check your water level after about 30 min...depending on your area the water condensation may occur faster than others ...you may need to add more water. Water level should never be below the beans
Step 2.
While beans are boiling let's start making our Epis. To your Pilon add garlic, scallions, 1/2 of the Scotch bonnet pepper and parsley leaves ( add the leaves of the parsley only, do not add the stem)
Using your Pilon mash these ingredients together until they resemble a course paste (set aside)
Step 3. Strain the cooked beans over a large bowl using your strainer... Do not discard the water... Reserve the water for cooking ( you will need 4 cups of the reserved kidney bean water) ... Also do not discard the beans, set them aside to be used in Step 4.
Step 4. In a large cast iron pot heat 1/2 cup of cooking oil over medium-high heat... Add your garlic mixture, Andui and gloves... stir for 1 to 2 minutes then add your beans... stir for an additional 1 to 2 minutes then add 4 1/3 cups reserved liquid, thyme sprigs, the other half of your Scotch bonnet pepper and butter... bring to a boil
Step 5.
While you wait for your liquid to come to a boil... Let's start rinsing the rice... Add your rice to a large bowl, then add cold water... Stir your rice...the water will turn a white cloudy color... Use your strainer to strain the water from your rice.... repeat this process of pouring the rice back into the bowl, adding cold water again, stirring and straining 2 or 3 times until the water becomes somewhat clear.
Step 6. At this point your water on the stove should be boiling... Add your strained rice to the boiling water using a ladle or large spoon and stir gently to assure there are no clumped rice patches in your pot..... You also gently stir it to assure that the beans are evenly distributed throughout the rice.
Boil until the rice has absorbed most of the water, about 8-12 minutes
Once water has been absorbed , reduce the heat to low cover the rice and cook (Toufe) for approximately 20 minutes.
Serve piping hot with any stewed meat or fried fish or fried meat... As an added bonus pair with fried plantains or a crisp Ice Berg lettuce salad.
Enjoy, Love #CCQ
Quick Tip: Store remaining rice in refrigerator. If you're planning to reheat the rice the next day for lunch simply add a few tablespoons of water and reheat on medium low heat for about 20 minutes... This should bring your rice back to life and taste as if you just cooked it. Enjoy!!