Jamaican rice and peas.?

Question

I made Jamaican rice and peas for the first time about a month ago and it was really good. I've been attempting to make it again since, but have not been successful. It just doesn't taste like jamaican rice and peas. The flavour it's supposed to have is never there. Because I use regular rice, I cook it a lil' bit for about 7-10.mins first and drain. Then I add the water from the gunga peas and the coconut milk (not the whole coconut milk as I think that's too much; I leave a lil' bit of it out). I pour that mixture into my pot, add a lil' bit of garlic powder seasoning, thyme, black pepper and salt to it. Then I add the peas, stir and let it boil for a few mins. Then I pour in the rice and let it cook till the water evaporates/dry. While it's cooking or when it's almost cooked, I also add about 4 spoons of chicken broth to it (chicken broth from the chicken I cook, not the one from the store). I got this recipe from someone on yahoo answers. So what am I doing wrong??

Answer 1

the best way to make it is just put all the ingredients together and cooke them in a rice cooker. It will stop cooking automatically when the rice is done.  Then, adorn with some coconut shells and some fresh thyme leaves.

Answer 2

try adding sum sweet spices like ginger and star anise and add some paprika to give it a bit a kick as jamican dishes generally do if you want to add chillies go for green jalapenós cause they are a better flavor.

i hope this helps your dish its good that your expanding your repetoir.

Answer 3

I am a former chef from Canada and worked in a resort at one time in Montego Bay Jamaica, and we used to saute some veg, onions, scallions, a bit of celery in oil and a bit of margarine, then add the garlic, thme, allspice berries and a bay leaf, warm them and the add the rice and mix in until the rice is coated, we used half full coconut milk and chicken broth, cooked it for 20-25 minute with the lid on, I never liked using the gunga/pigeon peas, always liked red kidney beans, maybe buy the pre-cooked ones from "Grace" or Goya and drain them, adding them at the last 10 minutes of cooking, testing the rice as it cooks, some cooks faster, we used white par-boiled at the hotel, I use to cook this for some Jamaican friends here in Toronto when I made oxtail stew, goat curry or beef stew jamaican style, even for jerk or baked fish. I also add some butter and chopped parsley at the end, not a Jamaican thing but it separates the rice grains for serving