One of the first recipes that I filmed and posted here was a vegan version of a “Cuban congris”. My intention was to resemble a sibarita version of the plate, which is the recipe that is prepared in special occasions as festivities, new year, family gatherings, birthdays, etc. That especial version has many ingredients like olives and chuncks of meat. I was very intrigued about how it would be making that recipe with vegan ingredients, so I tried many times until came with that recipe.
But there are many versions of this recipe, like any traditional plate in any part of the world, many recipes as cookers are. There is a daily version of this rice, one that is made with few ingredients, is faster, cheaper but not less amazing as the fancy one.
It can be prepared on the stove or in a electric pressure pot, like an “instant pot”. The difference are 15 minutes more that it takes cooking it in the stove.
To be honest it took me many tries to achieve the balance between time, water and proportions to have that satisfactory fluff rice. So that’s a hint, you have to be precise with the amount of rice and water, and if you are doing it on the stove, make sure to use the lowest setting you have, with a aluminum sheet to trap the steam, right under the lid.
So here I leave the recipe, ideal for winter days, extra tasty, and comfy:
Vegan Congrís, simple version
Ingredients:
1 ⅓ cup cooked black beans
2 cup cooked bean liquid
2 cup white rice (medium grane ideally, never basmati)
1/2 onion – diced
4 garlic cloves – finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper – in cubes
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp vinegar (white or apple)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/2 tbsp oregano
1 pinch of black pepper
1 tbsp sea salt
Directions:
1. In a hot pot at medium low, stir fry the onion, garlic, the spices, the bay leaf, and red bell peppers for 2 minutes or until the onion gets translucent. At this point get the bay leaves out of the pot.
2. Add the beans water and bring it to boil for about 3 more minutes. mean while rinse the rice two times and set it aside.
3. Add the rice to the pot, mix and let it boil a bit, steering occasionally for 1 minute. Then add the beans and mix well.
4. Once the rice is boiling, reduce the heat to low, and cover the pot: If you are using an over the stove pot, add an aluminum foil sheet before the lid to trap the steam, and let it cook slowly for about 20 minutes. after that you can fluff the rice.
5. If you are using an electric pressure cooker, put the lid on, set your cooker to the rice program (mine is a 12 minutes program) and when is finished, wait 8 minutes at least, or until it release the pressure naturally.
6. Enjoy!
Traditionally is served with “yucas with mojo”, salads and meats, so I’ll leave it to your desire, but maybe it could be a good idea pair it with some marinated tofu, with a mock meat of your preference or maybe make your own seitan or chorizos, like this recipe that I have here 😉
As aside note I’ll like to mention that I’m testing a version of this recipe with a traditional over the stove pressure cooker, which I’ll share right here after some adjustments I have to make. Also I want to film the recipe with those three different pots, but it will take some time.
Anyways, you still can check this video out, with the fancy version to have a general idea of how to make this recipe:
Vegoralia 