Christmas Day in Nigeria is not normal without Jollof Rice. Jollof rice is the traditional celebration food of Nigeria. There’s party jollof, funeral jollof, thanksgiving jollof, I-woke-up-this-morning jollof, the-sun-is-shining jollof. Okay, we’re getting carried away now!
Nigerian love celebrating with jollof, fried rice, plantain and so on. So, if you’re not Nigerian and you’ll like a little switch up on your Christmas dinner, why you try our simple jollof recipe. Serve with a side of fried plantains, a salad and tofu or seitan.
Bon Appétit!
Ingredients
750g Long Grain Rice, rinsed thoroughly
400-500ml can of Chopped Tomatoes (N.B.: alternatively, use passata)
1-2 Purple Onions, roughly chopped
0.5-1tsp Ginger, minced
1-2 Galic Cloves, minced
50-100g Tomato Purée
2 Vegetable Stock Cubes
3 Tomatoes, chopped
0.5-1 Red/Orange Bell Pepper, chopped (optional)
Dried Mushrooms (optional)
Salt (to taste)
Thyme (to taste)
1 Bay Leaf (optional)
Dried Basil (to taste)
Curry Powder (optional)
Chilli Powder (to taste)
10tbsp Vegetable Oil
Hot Water
Method
- Pour approximately 5tbsp of vegetable oil into a saucepan and slowly heat it up.
- Once hot, add in half of the onions, garlic and ginger. Stir continuously to prevent burning and cook until the onions start becoming translucent.
- Stir in the can(s) of chopped tomatoes and tomato purée and leave to cook down till the tomatoes are fully cooked and the sauce created is fragrant.
- Set aside.
- Cook the rice in a pot of boiling water till it is approximately 50% cooked through.
- In another saucepan, pour in the rest of the oil followed by the tomatoes, bell peppers and the rest of the onions, garlic and ginger, when the oil is hot.
- Cook till fragrant.
- Stir in the rice and let it cook for about a minute before adding in the tomato sauce and optional bay.
- Dissolve the stock cubes in some hot water containing the optional dried mushrooms and stir the mixture into the saucepan.
- Add in enough water for the rice mixture to just be covered and give the contents of the saucepan another stir.
- Place a lid on the saucepan and let the mixture cook on a medium-low heat.
- When the rice is about 90% cooked through (when the water is almost completely absorbed), stir in the herbs and spices and let the rice finish cooking uncovered. (N.B. if the rice is not fully cooked through before the water’s fully absorbed, stir in a little water with a stock cube dissolved in it in order to not dilute the flavour while the rice cooks through).
Serve.
If you try the recipe, upload a picture of it to Instagram with the hashtag #lickyourplaterecipe so we can have a look at and like it.
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