Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Diri Kolé ak Pwa
Haiti’s national rice and beans: red beans cooked into coconut-scented rice with thyme, clove, and Scotch bonnet.
Haitian · easy · serves 5
prep 15 min · cook 50 min
~732 cal · 17g protein · 111g carbs · 26g fat · 10g fiber · 2g sugars · 12g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Diri kole ak pwa, "rice stuck together with beans", is the anchor of the Haitian table, the dish at the centre of Sunday lunch and every celebration in between. Rice and beans (kidney, , or black) are cooked together in one pot so they meld into a single savoury whole rather than sitting side by side.
Its cleverness is its thrift: the beans are simmered first, and their rich, seasoned cooking liquid, scented with epis (the Haitian herb-and-garlic base), thyme, and often a little pork or coconut, is then used to cook the rice. Nothing is wasted, and everything ends up tasting of everything else, Creole economy turned into real depth of flavour.
It is the everyday and the festive dish at once, served alongside stewed meats, fried , and pikliz, the fiery pickled slaw. Humble and deeply satisfying, diri kole is the comforting heart of Haitian cooking.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 5
1 cup dried red kidney beans (or 2 cans)
2.5 cups long-grain rice
1 cup
3 tbsp epis (blended peppers, garlic, herbs) or minced garlic and parsley
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 whole cloves
1 , left whole
3 , sliced
3 tbsp
1 avocado, to serve
Instructions
1
Simmer the beans until tender (or drain canned); keep 3 cups of their liquid, topping up with water.
2
Fry the epis, scallions, and cloves in oil 2 minutes; add the beans and fry 3 more.
3
Pour in the bean liquid and coconut milk, add thyme, salt, and the whole Scotch bonnet floating on top.
4
Stir in the rice, cover, and cook low 25 minutes. Rescue the bonnet before it bursts.
5
Fluff and serve with sliced avocado, and sos pwa or pikliz if you’re going full Haitian table.
Haitian Sunday-table tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Ouest (Port-au-Prince). The first of January is independence day, and the first meal of the year is soup joumou, a squash soup that colonists once kept for themselves. UNESCO added it to the intangible heritage list in 2021, for what it stands for as much as for how it is made.
🗺️
Haiti. Griot earns the twice-cooked description: pork marinated in sour orange and epis, the green herb base of garlic, peppers, parsley and thyme that starts most Haitian pots, then simmered until tender and fried until the edges go crisp. Pikliz beside it is cabbage, carrot and scotch bonnet left in vinegar, and it is there to cut the fat.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Haiti
Espageti AyisyenHaiti's famous breakfast spaghetti tossed with smoky herring, onions, peppers, and a hit of epis and ketchup, savory morning comfort.
Soup JoumouA golden squash soup with beef, pasta, and root vegetables, Haiti's soup of freedom, eaten every New Year's Day.
Pen PatatA dense baked pudding of sweet potato, banana, and coconut milk, warmly spiced, a Haitian Sunday sweet.
Browse all Haiti recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Haiti meal
KremasDrink
Pen PatatDessert
LegimLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Diri Kolé ak Pwa?
Haiti’s national rice and beans: red beans cooked into coconut-scented rice with thyme, clove, and Scotch bonnet.
Where does Diri Kolé ak Pwa come from?
Diri Kolé ak Pwa is a Haitian dish from Ouest (Port-au-Prince), Haiti.
Can Diri Kolé ak Pwa be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Diri Kolé ak Pwa recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Diri Kolé ak Pwa safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Diri Kolé ak Pwa take to make?
About 65 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 5.
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