Yellow Rice (Arroz Amarillo) Recipe
The Caribbean cuisine is as vibrant as its culture and land. There is such a healthy blend of so many other regional cuisines in its food like African, French, Spanish and even Indian. How about that? It seems to have taken exotic flavors from all these countries and made its own version from it.
Yellow Rice (Arroz Amarillo) Recipe
So, don't be surprised to find recipes which look and sound familiar to some other dish you know which you enjoyed in some other setting. Although its inevitable that it has lots of meat based dishes, its great to know that its cuisine has many vegetarian dishes included too. I didn't have to search for options to make anything vegetarian at least as long as I have about 10-12 famous vegetarian dishes before that to try out. Yellow Rice (Arroz Amarillo) Recipe This is a simple dish made with Achiote, otherwise called as Annatto Seeds which gives this dish its beautiful yellow color (or should I say orangish yellow?) Its a staple in the Caribbean thanks to its beautiful color and flavor. I read somewhere that this dish is served with a garnish of Pimentos. Use them if you can get hold of the red beauties. If you want a meat version then add Cooked chicken to make the famous 'Arroz con Pollo' . I have put together this recipe gathered from various different ones from the internet You might be interested in: Annatto : Know more about Annatto seeds here Simple Rice Recipes : Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice, African Jollof Rice, South Indian Kadambam Rice
  • Cook time:
  • Prep time:
  • Serves: 2 people
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp Annatto seeds (or substitute pinch of Saffron in the recipe)
  • 4 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • about 1 cup bell peppers,chopped ( I used mixed colored bell peppers for color)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 cup Long grained rice (like basmati)
  • 2-1/2 cups of water/vegetable stock
  • salt to taste
  • few sprigs of cilantro
Method
1. Preparing Annatto Oil Heat the seeds and oil in a small saucepan over low heat, swirling pan frequently,
2. until the oil turns bright red-orange in color. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Let it cool for about 10 minutes and then strain the oil. You can discard the seeds. This oil keeps well refrigerated for close to a month in an air tight container. You can make an extra batch and use it to add color to many of your dishes like stews, rice recipes etc.
3. Add a 1 tsp of Annatto oil ( or more if you like) in a skillet. Saute the onions and garlic with salt until soft. Add the bell peppers and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the peppers are lightly cooked.
4. Next add the rice and stir into the mixture. Saute it until the rice turns opaque.
5. Add the stock /water and cook covered for about 8-10 minutes in medium heat until cooked.
6. Garnish with cilantro and Pimentos (if using).
Serve Hot. Yellow Rice (Arroz Amarillo) Recipe

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1 Member Reviews

By Joy on Jun 22, 2012

FIrst of all, I am so happy to have stumbled upon this site! ty... As for the Spanish RIce recipe- I can literally see- it needs white rice.  My saffron threads are too precious for me to overindulge JUST to give a deeper yellow color. The taste is fine enough. My brown rice would not give justice to a picture. By all means, I will make this again.  Blessed Eats! \"smiley\"

8 Comments

By sanjeeta kk on Jul 22, 2010

Lovely change from the usual pulavs. Must try this.

By CurryLeaf on Dec 17, 2009

Very new to me.I had read recently about annato seeds in Cynthia's blog.this is very new to me.I wanted to try rice and peas (veganized version) for AWED,but scotch bonnet pepper in the recipe freaked me out.Yeah,a lot of veg dishes are there,and thanks for the maduros platanos info.I did not kow about it.

By sheba on Dec 13, 2009

looks just wow!

By Spice Rack on Dec 12, 2009

This looks so good and I love how great the pictures look.

By Uma on Dec 12, 2009

wow, the rice looks sooo delicious. Never used annatto seeds in my cooking.

By peanutts on Dec 12, 2009

I love rice, looks lovely

By bergamot on Dec 11, 2009

This looks good..love the color of the rice

By Cilantro on Dec 11, 2009

First heard about Annatto seeds on Cynthia`s blog. I am going to get them soon. Rice looks very flavorful.