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1
Combine the chicken with the green onions, thyme, and shadow beni. Allow the seasoning to penetrate the meat. Before cooking, pat each piece completely dry with paper towels — no surface moisture should remain.
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2
Place the pot over high heat. Add the sugar in a dry layer. Cook without stirring until the sugar melts and deepens past amber to a near-black caramel — this is where the dish lives or dies: pale caramel produces a sweet, toffee result; only a genuinely dark, almost black caramel generates the complex bitter-sweet depth and mahogany colour that define pelau. The colour should make a cautious cook uneasy.
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3
Add the dry chicken pieces to the near-black caramel immediately. Turn each piece to coat in the hot sugar. Brown the chicken on all sides until the exterior is lacquered and intensely savoury — no liquid is added at this stage.
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4
Add the diced pumpkin and pigeon peas to the pot. Stir briefly to combine with the chicken and residual caramel.
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5
Pour in the coconut milk and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. The liquid should be a deep mahogany and fragrant with the caramelised base — if it is pale or thin, the caramel was insufficient.
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6
Add the rice. Stir once to distribute evenly, then leave the pot largely undisturbed. Once the liquid has been absorbed to the level of the rice surface, lay the banana leaf (or foil) directly over the rice before placing the lid. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting and steam until the rice is fully cooked and a crust has formed at the bottom of the pot — the pelau is ready when no steam escapes at the rim and the grain has absorbed all liquid.