Jambalaya - Cajun Rice Dish
A jambalaya is in the Cajun world what a risotto is in the Italian one. Full of flavour with the smokiness of the ham and the pepperiness of the spice. Cajun vegetables are a mix of celery, green peppers and onions and are used a lot in Cajun and Creole foods.
Preparation time: 20 minutes Quantity: serves 4 Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil
200g / 8 oz diced chicken
200g / 8 oz smoked ham / gammon (raw) - diced
1 onion - peeled and small dice
2 teaspoons Cajun spice
2 cloves garlic - sliced
1 carrot - peeled and small diced
2 green peppers - de-seeded and diced
2 sticks celery - small diced
1 tin plum tomatoes - chopped with juice
450g American easy cook rice
1&1/2 pints / 750 ml chicken stock (or cube)
Method
- Heat the oil
- Fry the chicken and ham till sealed
- Add the onion and spice, cooking for a minute
- Add the garlic, carrot, peppers and celery, cooking for a few minutes
- Add the tomatoes, rice and stock
- Bring to the simmer and then
- Place in an ovenproof dish and cook in a preheated oven gas 5 / 190*c / 380*f for approx. 40 - 50 minutes until the rice is cooked, the mix has absorbed all the stock and the rice is a little crunchy on top