One Pot Meals... Intro to Perlieu

As many of us have come to know, One Pot style meals are fairly simple but all too often we run out of ideas to keep recipes fresh and interesting.

But in this post we’re going to take a look into the One Pot feature of Perloo style cooking. Though the name might not be familiar to many of us, the style of cooking is no stranger. If you’ve ever enjoyed Paella, or a Jambalaya, then you’ll have a really good idea of exactly what a Perloo can be. The general application behind a perloo, is that the rice is used as a filler to stretch the less abundant ingredients, to ensure that everyone can still get enough food, although thats not at all the premise behind the invention of this delicacy.

To illustrate the effectiveness of why this meal quality’s as a one pot wonder, imagine being part of a large family, and no having enough, meat or vegetables to go around. You want to see to it that everyone gets fed, but you also want to ensure that the food is still appealing while not taking a long time to cook. In comes the Perloo One Pot meal, an efficient and effective way to do it all. Conceptually, foods like, Fried Rice, Lo Mein, Sautéed Pastas, and Casserole type dishes could all be said tot have a similar affect, even though, by definition, non of them are of the Perloo family.

Historically speaking the dish finds it origins on the West Side of Africa, traveling, as great foods do, to the various corners of the land and taking on regionally specific identities along the way. Generally speaking though, at it roots, Perloo is built from the rice up, as it is fairly rice forward in a way that not only show cases the other ingredients, but also in a way that highlights bold flavors, rich textures, and savory proteins folded into the simmer. Again, for the application of creating an abundance from not so abundant ingredients, this one pot wonder requires minimal effort, and delivers maximum returns.

In short, the process, involves a quick sauté of aromatics, a moderate simmer of the rice and other ingredients, some seasonings to tighten up the flavor, and a place to sit and enjoy your hard work once its finished cooking. Unlike the Slow Cooker type meals where you’re able to prep everything into a ziplock bag, toss it, broth it, and simmer it to perfection with little more effort than that, the Perloo requires a bit more monitoring because its a quick cook type meal, involving more than one cooking method, namely, sautéing and simmering. That said, it can still be a fairly uncomplicated way to get a One Pot meal on the table in under an hour.

So now the question becomes, what will you, Perloo? 

Here’s a few ideas around the classics to get you started...

Okra, Tomato and Shrimp Perloo

Chicken and Dirty Rice Perloo

Seafood Paella w/ Duck Sausage and Smoked Mussels