Peruvian Green Rice

Traditional Peruvian green rice made and served with the chicken or duck is a signature dish of Peru. Here, I am sharing a vegetarian version of this classic pilaf where stir-fried mushrooms replace the chicken lending a deep and an earthy taste to the dish. The rice is served with salsa criolla, which not only gives a crisp texture but also makes the dish refreshing. The green rice gets its green color and flavor from fresh cilantro. The rice here is cooked in vegetable stock, unlike the traditional recipe which uses chicken broth and beer. The Peruvian green rice loaded with the healthy goodness of vegetables is an easy one-pot meal, ready under 30 minutes. Though it is a complete meal by itself, here I have paired it with mushroom stir-fry and topped with salsa criolla making it all the more filling, nutritious and appealing.

#InternationalFeast is the #172nd theme for #FoodieMondayBlogHop. This interesting theme was suggested by Mayuri di who blogs at Mayuris-jikoni.com. Do check out her versatile blog for recipes from all over the globe. As per the theme, we had to cook food from an International cuisine. We could choose any country with the starting letter of our name. For me, it had to be a country beginning with P letter. I chose the country Peru. What I loved about this theme was that we could explore a new International cuisine. I read through many sites on the Internet to know about the food culture and tradition of this beautiful country.
                                          
Peru is a country in South America that's home to a section of Amazon rain forest and Machu Picchu, an ancient Incan city high in the Andes mountains. It is made up of a variety of landscapes, from mountains and beaches to deserts and rain forests. Peru is regarded as one of the best countries of the world for food lovers and Peruvian food as one of the world's vibrant cultural fusions. The staples of indigenous Peruvian cuisine are corn, potatoes and chillies. Quinoa is their ancient crop.Sea food is found in abundance and hence no doubt, their national dish, ceviche (raw fish, lime juice, chilli, onion, coriander and perhaps a side of yams and corn) showcases fish at its freshest. Source

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients for the green rice:

• 1 cup long grain rice 
• 1 medium bunch of fresh cilantro/coriander
• 1 onion 
• 1 carrot
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1 red chili
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup green peas
• 1/4 cup sweet corn
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• Black pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoon oil

Ingredients for the Mushroom stir-fry

• 8-10 mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• 1 onion sliced

Ingredients for the Salsa Criolla

• 1 red onion, thinly sliced 
• 1/4 red bell pepper strips
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Black pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tomato cut into thin strips

 Method:

1. Clean the coriander leaves, discard hard stems if any and rinse well under running water. Transfer it with 1/2 cup water to a grinder jar and grind till you get a smooth green paste. Keep aside. Next peel, wash and cube carrot, peel and chop the onion finely. Peel and mince the garlic. De-seed the bell pepper and cube it. Slit the red chili and chop it lengthwise. Rinse the rice couple of times in water and drain.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds to it. Once the seeds crackle, add minced garlic followed by chopped onion and slit red chili. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

3. Next, add in the veggies and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes. Now add the green paste and rice and mix everything well. Add vegetable stock and season the rice with salt and black pepper to taste. Give a quick stir. Allow the mix to boil on medium heat. Now simmer and cover cook the rice until all the water is absorbed and rice is cooked well. This will take around 15-17 minutes.

4. While the rice is getting cooked, we will prepare the Mushroom stir fry and Salsa Criolla. 

• To make Mushroom Stir-fry, heat oil in a pan. Add sliced onion followed by sliced mushrooms. Season with salt and black pepper and stir fry on medium to high heat while stirring continuously for 4-5 minutes. 
• To make Salsa Criolla, blend all the ingredients under the list for salsa in a mixing bowl well.

After about 15 minutes, check the rice. If all the water is absorbed and rice is cooked well, put off the flame. Fluff the rice using a fork. Serve the delicious Peruvian green rice with mushroom stir-fry and top it with refreshing salsa criolla.

  Recipe Notes:

• To make the green paste, spinach leaves may also be used along with cilantro. This will add more green color and nutrition to the rice.
• The original recipe of salsa criolla used 1 tablespoon olive oil. I haven't used it.
• You may use soy meat curry or stir-fry in place of mushroom stir-fry or totally skip its use.
• The original recipe uses chicken stock. To make a vegetarian version, i have used vegetable stock instead. You may use any as per your choice . You may add plain water if you do not have a stock ready at hand, though taste and nutrition wise, use of vegetable or chicken stock is recommended.
• Original Peruvian green rice uses Aji Amarillo paste, which is a peruvian chili paste. I have used slit red chili ( bhavnagri variety) instead which is less spicy as i intended to serve this rice to my little one. You may use a spicy variety of chili in slit form or as paste to adjust the spice levels of the dish as per your taste. 
• I have roughly followed the recipe from here.
• If using frozen green peas, add them towards the end of cooking the pilaf.

If you ever try this recipe, feel free to share your feedback with us in the comment section below.  Follow us on #Facebook  #Instagram ,  #Twitter and #Google+  for more recipes and new updates.

For more recipes from International Cuisine, do check the following recipe links from my blog.

• Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew

                                

• Poached Pears from French Cuisine

                                

• Vegetarian Nasi Lemak from Malaysian Cuisine

                                

• Pineapple Fried Rice / Thai Cuisine

                       

• Sweet Corn Tomato Bruschetta / Italian Cuisine

                                 

• Egg-less Baked Dughnut