How I Make Jollof Rice

2:21am I am studying and decided to take a break to help someone I met on twitter recently, with a Jollof rice recipe; so I have decided to share with you as well.

For those of you who might not be familiar with this dish, Jollof rice is a native dish to the West African people of Africa, it is typically a rice dish that has packed full of flavor and sometimes can be just a bit spicy. It is made by cooking rice in a medley of tomatoes, peppers and herbs.

This recipe is a step-by-step method of how most Nigerians would make theirs.

Ingredients

Pepper Base Bell Peppers, Habanero peppers (so I would usually use 2/3 of this to 1 bell pepper), Tomatoes (so now this is highly optional (i personally don’t use), Onions, Garlic, Ginger

Others

Tomato Paste, Unsalted butter, Meat stock (turkey, chicken or beef) — this enhances the flavor of your rice, now this is made simply from boiling any of your proteins. Steps. Wash meat. Add some water (water should just be above your meat), add the spices below, and add some onions. After it has cooked halfway through, taste the water and adjust the seasoning.

Spices

Curry, Thyme, Maggi, Salt, Bay leaves, White pepper powder (optional), Smoked Paprika powder (optional)

Note: Before we start, it is important to note these things. These are the (my) keys to making a decent Jollof rice;

1. When starting out, make sure your water-to-rice ratio is basically 1:1.5 (whole and half).
2. When making your pepper base, don’t mince the seasoning, but you also don’t wanna put too much.
3. Bruh, you’re gonna want that rice to BURN!

l-r a pan of chicken wings suya, some Jollof rice and of course steak suya, all from my home kitchen

Prep

• Wash and cut your peppers, garlic, and ginger
• Bake in the oven for 30mins
• Blend pepper base ingredient together, and then set aside
• Wash your rice and drain properly

Procedure

• Heat up some oil (not too much).
• Add some diced onions.
• Add curry and thyme and stir well.
• Allow to fry for a minute while you stir continuously.
• Reduce heat to medium and pour blended pepper base.
• You can take heat up just a little bit, while you allow your pepper base to fry, while also stirring.
• Now add like two bay leaves.
• Add your stock (meat water).
• Add some Maggi and salt.
• Taste to check seasoning level.
• Pour washed rice and stir.
• Add just a little water (ps. Your rice should not be dry yet, and your water should just be a little bit more than the rice).
• Get a foil and cover the pot, and then place the pot cover on top, making sure there are no spaces. The point of this is to trap the steam in the pot and allow it to do the cooking.
• Leave the stove on medium/medium-low heat and allow to cook for about 20 minutes.
• Check your rice, stir it and taste, if it’s already getting dried up, pour just a little more water and taste, adjust seasoning if need be.
• Repeat these until you get your desired taste and texture of your rice.
• Once it’s done, turn the heat to the highest and cover your pot, allow that shit to burn for like 2 minutes or more sef, lol, let the under burn until you start getting hints of burnt notes, before you turn off.
• Once the stove is off, add some unsalted butter and raw onion rings.
• Mix together, and cover the pot for a few minutes.