Jollof rice recipe

Jollof rice is one of the popular meals Nigeria is known for. I’m going to be providing the recipe to make the tastiest jollof for yourself and friends to enjoy! 

For the tomato base: 

2 large tomatoes 

4 large red bell peppers 

3 large red/purple onions 

2 red scotch bonnet pepper 

2 cloves of garlic

1 thumbsize fresh ginger 

1 tsp coarse salt 

For the jollof rice: 

2 ½ cups parboiled rice 

2 cups meat stock 

1 white onion 

½ cup vegetable oil 

1 tsp tomato paste 

2 Maggi cubes (optional) 

1 bay leaf 

2 tsp dried thyme 

2 tsp curry powder 

1 tsp ginger powder 

1 tsp paprika powder 

1 tsp coarse salt 

Optional for finishing steps: 

15 g butter (roughly chopped) 

a few slices of onions 

INSTRUCTIONS 

Steaming the fresh vegetables: 

1. Wash and roughly chop the tomatoes and bell peppers. Peel the onions and cut in quarters, then peel the garlic and ginger. Place them in a pot with the tomatoes first at the bottom, also add the scotch bonnet peppers and a teaspoon of coarse salt. 
2. Place the pot over medium heat and cover vegetables. They will produce their own liquid. Cook until all the liquid produced has dried up. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 
3. Once cool, transfer the cooked vegetables into a blender and blitz into a paste. 

Cooking the Jollof rice: 

1. Peel and finely chop the onions, then place a pot over medium-high heat and pour in the vegetable oil. Add the chopped onions and fry until lightly brown. Also, add the tomato paste, with one teaspoon each of dried thyme, curry powder, ginger powder and paprika. Then continually stir and saute for about two minutes
2. Pour in the blended tomato mixture carefully to prevent splatter, stir and allow to fry for four minutes. Rinse the rice and add it to the pot. Also add the bay leaf, the remaining teaspoons of dried thyme and curry powder, Maggi cubes and salt. Then pour in the meat stock, stir all together and bring to a boil. Stir one more time, cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the excess liquid is reduced. 
3. Now remove the lid and stir the rice from the bottom up, then cover with a large piece of aluminium foil or baking paper (this will help trap in the steam). Cover again with the lid, reduce the heat and cook for another 10 minutes or until the rice is soft but still firm. 

Optional steps: 

1. For extra flavour and moisture, once the rice is cooked and still piping hot, throw in a few cubes of butter, allow it to melt, then add some chopped onions. Cover again with foil for the steam to soften the onions. Take off after five minutes and mix the contents thoroughly. 

There you have it, jollof rice to be enjoyed by you and your loved ones! Don’t be afraid of your rice burning. It’s a normal occurrence when making jollof rice !

Article submitted by Sobechi Madueke-Aniemeka