Nigerian Jollof Rice Student Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 sweet peppers

• 1 can of chopped tomatoes

• Tomato puree

• 2 onions – 1 for blender, 1 for fry up

• Seasoning: Stock (Magi and chicken stock such as knorr), salt, curry powder, thyme, bay leaves, garlic powder, ginger powder (can use powder or blend the real thing). For magi, add one per cup of rice (200g) + 2 extra.

• For spice: Chilli powder or 1 scotch bonnet

• Dried rice (can be long grain which is easier to use or basmati) – 5 standard cups of rice (approx. 1kg). This will make about 8 potions to last the week.

• Oil (e.g. sunflower or rapeseed but NOT olive oil)

Instructions

1. Blend the tomatoes, sweet peppers and 1 onion. If you would like it spicy, also add a scotch bonnet pepper at this point (or chilli powder later when you’re adding the seasoning).

2. Heat some oil in the pot and fry the onions.

3. Fry the tomato puree – don’t turn up the heat too high so that it doesn’t burn.

4. Pour in the blended mixture and boil until you see some oil on top.

5. Add stock cubes, ginger, garlic, curry powder, thyme, bay leaves. N.B. If you add stock from cooking chicken, you need to boil off the water before adding in it in – add this before adding stock cubes and taste before adding the cubes.

6. Taste the mixture. If necessary, add salt - it should be a slightly salty so that it tastes good once the rice is added.

7. Whilst it’s cooking, wash the rice with warm water until the water becomes clear. You don’t want starchy jollof, because this makes it sticky.

8. Add the rice and mix it in.

9. Once the mixture boils, cook on low heat. You can put foil between the lid and pot for a better flavour.

10. Depending on the type of rice, you may need to add some boiling water if the rice is still hard and the water is dry. However, once the rice starts getting soft, avoid mixing it so that it doesn’t get mushy. Push the rice to the side with the cooking spoon and add water to the sides and middle.

11. Once the rice is soft enough, turn of the hob. Don’t let the water completely dry off so that it doesn’t burn but if you desire a smoky taste, let it burn a little.

Courtesy of Ayowade Adeleye