OLD MACEDONIAN DISH - RICE WITH PICKLED PEPPERS

 
I remember my grandma used to prepare this food and she used to tell me about it when I was little. Nowadays, it's modern to prepare rice with chicken legs, but in the past, Macedonian pepper in any form was present on the table, more than the meat. Of course, when I was a kid, I didn't see anything pretty in this food, but now when I'm 38, I feel such a deep nostalgia and I prepare this food with lots of love and memories.
 Ingredients:

For the rice
  •     2 cups of rice
  •     6 and a half cups of hot water
  •     1 tbsp vegetable seasoning (vegeta)
  •     2 bay leaves
  •     a little black pepper
  •    1 chicken cube
  •    4-5 large sweet pickled peppers
  •    oil as needed
Preparation:
  1.     The most important part of preparing rice is washing. The washing of rice changes its taste and even structure. First put rice in a larger bowl and gently wash it with water several times. Drain through a strainer.
  2.     In the baking pan, add oil to cover the bottom well and heat the pan on the hot stove. Add the wet rice and stir immediately. I recommend using a non-stick pan, I use Delimano and nothing ever sticks on the surface.
  3.     Fry the rice well, the grains should start to become translucent. Turn on the oven at maximum temperature.
  4.    Prepare the pickled peppers: cut off the handles, clean the seeds and wash well with water. Fill with the rice from the pan and arrange peppers over the rice.
  5.     Add the warm water and the chicken cube to the rice and stir well, add both the vegetable seasoning and black pepper and the bay leaves. Allow the rice just to start to boil, turn off the hotplate and transfer the baking pan in the preheated oven.
  6.     Bake for about half an hour or until a thin crust forms on the surface.