Jollof inspired rice

Jollof rice is a dish popular in West Africa. It’s a one pot dish with all sorts of amazing flavors including tomatoes, onions and peppers and even meat. There’s a huge debate on which country jollof rice actually originated and which country makes the best jollof rice. In my opinion, it’s definitely Nigerian Jollof! Lol just kidding, this is one debate I’ll gladly not participate but I will accept invitations from my West African sisters’ households to partake in this delectable deliciousness.

Now this jollof rice is a tricky one to make. So basically jollof rice is made by adding uncooked rice to a tomato and pepper sauce, making sure not to overcook the rice such that it becomes mushy, and making sure that the rice is infused with all the amazing flavors. I’ve attempted it several times but I am yet to achieve that fluffy and light consistency.

So I came up with a little twist, I just add cooked rice to the tomato and pepper sauce and I let it sort of steam for a couple of minutes. The rice still comes out fluffy as long as you make sure that the tomato sauce to begin with, has cooked down and most of the liquid had evaporated. I know! Sounds like cheating but until I find someone to help me nail the jollof recipe, this will have to do LOL. Another major change I made is that I diced my red peppers instead of blending them. So, I’m not trying to recreate jollof rice or anything but jollof rice inspired me to create an easy way to ‘zhuzh’ up leftover rice. So NO disrespect to my West African friends.



Here’s how I make my jollof inspired rice,

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Jollof inspired rice

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 3 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 cube chicken boullion
• 1 ½ cups frozen peas
• 5 cups cooked rice

Instructions

1. In a deep skillet fry the onions in the hot oil until they begin to caramelize
2. App the red pepper and garlic and fry until tender and fragrant.
3. Add the curry powder and paprika and fry in the oil for about a minute making sure not to burn the spices.
4. Add the fresh and canned tomatoes and crumble the chicken bouillon cube. Allow the sauce to simmer on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes to get rid of most of the water. Stir constantly to prevent burning. Taste the sauce to make sure it is well seasoned. I don’t usually add any salt because the bouillon cube contains just the right amount of salt.
5. Add the peas and cook for about a couple of minutes.
6. When the oil rises to the surface, turn off heat and add the cooked rice. Mix thoroughly until all the rice is covered in the sauce. Cover pot and let the rice soak up as much flavor as possible. Remember the rice is already cooked and we’re not trying to cook it any further. Stir with a fork just to fluff the rice and to make sure the heat was distributed evenly.

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Serve with oven roasted chicken and your favorite salad. Oh by the way, click here to see a jollof rice recipe by one of my favorite Nigerian Bloggers Sisi Yemmie.

……….and since we’re all about rice today, check out my fried rice recipe before you go. Enjoy!