Author Notes: For my recipe for this Southern dish, I have actually ditched all meat-based products to create a dish that is flavorful and delicate. If served with love and affection, it will indeed convince you that this year you shall be lucky with or without money. My secret ingredient is that I do, in fact, cook my black-eyed peas from scratch and save some of the simmering liquid to use for cooking my rice dish. The dish resembles a pilaf, which probably takes it closer to the Senegalese roots of this traditional dish.
Of course, to maximize the green, I garnish my variation of Hopping John with finely chopped green onions. New Year’s or otherwise, add this dish to your table and you are bound to feel well-nourished on a cold day. For a quick visual of how to make this dish, watch this video.
https://www.youtube.com… —Rinku Bhattacharya /Spice Chronicles
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
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2
tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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1
tablespoon butter
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1
medium sized onion, diced
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1 – 2
ribs celery diced
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1
cup basmati rice
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1
cup cooked black-eyed peas
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1
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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Chopped Green Onions to garnish
Directions
- In a pot with a tight-fitting lid, add the olive oil and butter and heat until the butter is melted.
- Add the onion and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onion softens considerably and begins to turn pale golden.
- Add the celery and carrot and stir well.
- Add the salt and the pepper and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover and cook the rice for 18 minutes. Note: This time works for basmati rice; for other rice varieties allow a few more minutes. Essentially the rice should be soft and all the water should be absorbed.
- If you are cooking the black-eyed peas yourself, save the cooking liquid and use it for the rice, in lieu of the stock or water.
/1b28725b-4d45-4446-b6ce-ca555abf9072--HJ_2_650.JPG "Hoppin John - A delicate version 2")
Photo by Rinku Bhattacharya /Spice Chronicles
