Globecooking recipe : Arroz Atollado (Colombia)

Arroz Atollado is certainly easier to throw together than it is to pronounce ! It's a traditional Colombian dish which is similar to a risotto, usually made with pork (but I used turkey), chorizo, rice, tomatoes and, surprisingly, potatoes. It is simple to make and appealed to the whole family.

Arroz Atollado

ingredients :

750g diced pork (or I used turkey)

1 litre chicken stock

3 large tomatoes, diced

3 onions, diced

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 red pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander

275g rice

4 medium-sized potatoes, diced

250g chorizo

First of all, getting chopping all the meat and vegetables into bite sized pieces.

Fry the meat in a drizzle of olive oil  for 5 minutes until browned on all sides.

Add the chicken stock and cook for 15 minutes. (I would suggest adding the potatoes at this stage to save time.)

During this time, in a separate pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil and cook the tomatoes, onions, garlic, red pepper, salt, cumin, coriander and pepper for 10-15 minutes.

Tip the tomato mixture into the pan with the meat and add the diced potatoes.

Add sufficient boiling water to cover the potatoes

Toss in the chorizo.

For the rice, you have two choices. Cook it separately and add for the last ten minutes of cooking time, or add it uncooked at the same time as the potatoes. Leave the pot to bubble away gently for about 20 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

The kids were starving (so they told me !) so I served them when the rice and potatoes were cooked through but there was still a fair amount of sauce in the dish (as in the top photo). I left it to rest for half an hour before we ate and by then, it had soaked up all the excess liquid and was more like a risotto consistency. Both ways taste great, and I'd say it tastes even better the next day.

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Fancy trying some more Colombian cuisine? How about Arepas con Chorizo y Guacamole, Fruit Salad with Ginger Sauce, Maza Morra Antioqueña or Posta Negra ?