This rice dish is traditional on Christmas and special occasions for the Puerto Rican family. We make other types of rice dishes, but arroz con gandules must always be present. It is a very delicious rice dish and goes very well with pernil (roast pork shoulder), boiled green banana’s, a vegetable and green vinegarette salad.

Every Puerto Rican family has their own way of preparing it. One can add chorizo (Spanish sausage), tocino (salt fatback crackling's) and jamón de cocinar (smoked cooking ham). The chorizo and ham can be used together, for this recipe we will only use the chorizo. If you are going to use the tocino be sure not to use to much salt to the rice because the tocino is salty.

2 cups long or short grain rice (wash and remove any foriegn objects)
3 1/2 cups of boiling water
1 1/2 cups of chorizo (sliced bite size)
1/2 cup of recaito
16 ounce can of gandules (pigeon peas) or 1 bag of frozen gandules (follow package cooking directions)
1/2 cup of alcaparrado without liquid
3 table spoons of annatto oil or one packet of Sazon with achiote
4 ounces of tomato sauce
Salt to taste

Note: If you are going to use the Sazon with achiote instead of using the annatto oil use 3 table spoons of corn oil with the Sazon.

In a caldero (dutch oven pot) with lid fry the chorizo in the annatto oil. Add the tomato sauce, alcaparrado and recaito to the pot and stir together. Cook at medium heat for 4 minutes. Add all other ingredients except the salt, pore the boiling water into the pot so the rice is submerge one inch below the water. Start with 2 teaspoon of salt stir and keep adding and mixing well until you are satisfied with the taste. Don’t cover yet, let the rice absorb the water. Once absorbed stir gently from bottom to top, cover and turn the heat down to low. Stirring once in between cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Serves 3 to 4