Arroz con Gandules

Method

1. Put the rice in a sieve and rinse it under cold water, rubbing gently, until the water runs almost clear, then leave it to drain. Finely chop the onion, green pepper, garlic and cilantro; together they make sofrito, the flavour base of Puerto Rican cooking. Drain the pigeon peas and cut the ham into 1 cm cubes.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy pot with a tight lid (a 20 cm caldero or Dutch oven) over medium heat. Stir in the annatto for about 20 seconds until the oil turns deep orange-red; don't let it smoke or it turns bitter. Add the ham and cook for 3 min, stirring, until the edges brown.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil 1½ tbspGround annatto (achiote) ½ tspSmoked ham or bacon 70 g

   medium heat

3. Add the onion, pepper, garlic and cilantro and cook for 4 min, stirring, until soft and fragrant but not browned.

   Add in this stepOnion 70 gGreen bell pepper 50 gGarlic cloves 2Cilantro, stems included 8 g

4. Stir in the tomato sauce, olives, capers, cumin, oregano, salt and bay leaf and cook for 1 min, until the tomato darkens slightly.

   Add in this stepPlain tomato sauce (passata-style) 60 mlPitted green olives 6Capers 1 tspGround cumin ½ tspDried oregano ½ tspSalt ¾ tspBay leaf 1

5. Add the pigeon peas and stock, turn the heat up to high heat and bring to the boil, about 3 min. Taste the liquid: it should be a little saltier than a soup, because the rice will soak it all up.

   Add in this stepPigeon peas (gandules), drained if canned 120 gChicken stock 250 ml

   high heat

6. Scatter in the rice, stir once so it is evenly covered, then boil uncovered over medium-high heat for 5 min without stirring, until the liquid has dropped to the level of the rice and small holes appear on the surface.

   Add in this stepMedium-grain rice (or long-grain) 180 g

   medium-high heat

7. Turn the rice over once from the bottom with a wide spoon, level the top, cover tightly and turn the heat down to low heat. Cook for 20 min without lifting the lid. It's done when the grains are tender and the liquid has gone; if they are still firm, sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of water and cook 5 minutes more.

   low heat

8. Turn off the heat and leave it to rest, covered, for 5 min. Remove the bay leaf, fluff the rice from the edges with a fork and serve. The golden crust stuck to the bottom (pegao) is a treat: scrape it up and share it.