Rice and red beans with griyo and some pikliz is our national dish. I have a recipe for the griyo. And the pikliz is for a later time. This diri kole is probably the most common food my people cook. Personally it’s not a favorite, but it is a go to recipe to just make sure to make sure I’m still Haitian and not too Americanize (a little humor).
When I started sharing my recipes, a lot of Haitians have DM’ed, angrily commented about how I didn’t know how to make [insert Haitian recipe here], and subsequently felt the need to tell me how to make it. They would go on to elaborate on the path they wished I had taken with the ingredients and process. And of course, most of those comments described different ways of making said dish.
It’s fine if you think your family has the best Haitian recipes. I think my family has the best Haitian recipes as well. As time and our history went on, each person made tweaks to a plate and were so satisfied with them that they taught them to the next generation. I am sticking to my way of making things because I love them.
Sa k’ pa kontan, anbake!
With that said, let’s get started.
Ingredients needed:
3 1/2 cups of yellow rice
2 cups of red beans
1 can of coconut milk
2 tbsp of tri-tri (dried shrimp)
4-5 tbsps of oil
sea salt
1 bell pepper
1 mild habanero pepper
2 spring onions
1 head of garlic
1 onion
a few whole cloves
1/4 cup of parsley
1-2 tbsp of fresh thyme
2 tomatoes
The first thing that should be taken care of are the beans. You can get canned beans like I did, needless to say that it is not the traditional way of cooking the beans. You can get dry beans and boil them in water until they are cooked. That is the most common way. You can also get fresh beans and go straight into making the “diri kole”.
The next thing that needs to be made before starting, is the “epis”. Epis simply translate to spices. Haitian ingredients for epis are pretty common. What gives it that particular kreyol flavor are the quantities in which the ingredients are used. Now as far as I know, most people use the same epis recipe for each dish they are making (I’m keeping in mind that I could be wrong about this.) In my family, each main ingredient has it’s own epis. For example, we have an epis for anything kole, but a different epis for griyo (pork), and so on.
For a diri kole epis here’s how I make it. First thing first, add a whole head of peeled garlic in a blender. The taste of the garlic is important in the rice don’t try to skim on it. Add 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, and 1 tbsp of fresh thyme. 3 whole scallions. A whole bell pepper, the color doesn’t matter. Sea salt to taste; we use sea salt in our cuisine.
If you are using a pilon/motar, just go ahead and start mashing the ingredients. If you are using a blender, a liquid portion is recommended, although you can blend without the liquid. For the liquid, in the video I am using a sour orange. That was only because I had an extra orange on hand and wanted to use it; don’t do that. Also, do not use oil. Oil will be added in the pot to cook the rice, no need to add it in the epis. Just use water; 1/3 cup of water and that’s all.
Blend for about 1 minute.
Dice the onion and tomatoes. Get them ready so when you start you are not rushing to cut them.
Once the beans and epis are ready, get a large pot on medium heat and add oil. In the video I am using coconut oil. Let it warm up and then add the beans, let them fry for 1 minute. Add diced onions and diced tomatoes and let them go for about 2-3 minutes. After that add the epis; add as much or as little as you want. Let it fry with the beans for a good 3-5 minutes so the flavors can come together. Cover with a tight fitted lid.
The next step is to add the coconut milk. I am using can milk. Back home we use the milk of a dried coconut. We grate it and squeeze the milk out; or you can do that in a high speed blender with 1/3 cup of water. Let the coconut milk cook in the beans for about 2-3 minutes.
After that, add the water to cook the rice. If you prepared dry beans, use that water to cook the rice. If not, just use clear water, pass it the blender (if you want) and pour it in the pot. I rarely measure my water to cook rice. My grandmother and mother showed me the big spoon technique and that has always been my way of verifying the level of liquid in my rice. But if you need reassurance, for the 3 1/2 cups of rice that are being used for this recipe, add 6 cups of water. Let it come to a boil.
While the water is coming to a boil, poke a mild habanero pepper with many cloves and put it in the pot. Taste the salt, and add more if you desire. Add the tri-tri. Some people add tritri with the beans while they are frying. For me, frying the tritri pronounce its taste way too much. I prefer to add it in the water so the taste is not so much in the forefront. If you want this recipe to be vegan, just skip the tri-tri.
When the water starts boiling, add the rice and mix it in. I am using yellow rice. I am using what we call yellow rice. It’s not brown rice, nor Mediterranean yellow rice. It’s what, we, in the Caribbean call yellow rice. It makes a world of difference for the savor of this dish. But if you can’t find it, you’re welcome to use white rice.
Leave the rice uncovered and cook it on medium/low heat.
Right before the water completely evaporates, check to see if the rice is “al dente”, for lack of better word. Basically, it should be almost cooked, but not completely cooked through.
The next step is to “toufe” the rice. Basically, the rice needs to be smothered. There are different ways to do this. You can find a cover that is slightly smaller than the pot and press it tightly into the rice; and cover with the regular pot cover. If the pot has a tight fitted lid, you can simply use that and it will be enough.
In Haiti, some people use a plastic bag to smother the rice. For the love of your body, please don’t do that!
Let the rice cook for 5-10 minutes after that. All of the water should be dry by now, but the rice should be moist and fluffy and not starchy.
Serve warm
I hope you enjoy our national rice.
Thank you for your time.