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Why would I want to share my 4 must have ingredients for Jollof Rice? Well, have you ever wanted to make a recipe and found out you were missing certain ingredients? Have you ever wished the recipe writer would say “if you don’t have these ingredients don’t bother” or “without these ingredients save the recipe for another day?” Today, my DH asked me to make him some Jollof Rice and I didn’t have all the ingredients but I knew those without which my recipe would be a disaster. So, I thought I’d share them with you:
1. Tomato Paste – Adds the rich tomato taste everyone enjoys. 2. 1 litre of Olive Oil – Prevents clumpy rice and makes the sauce rich. 3. Bell Pepper – It balances the taste of the tomatoes.
4. Garlic – Adds lots of flavour and tones down the sharpness of the tomatoes.
Jollof Rice is the meal most of my non-Nigerian friends ask me to make for their parties. I often tell them the internet is flooded with recipes but they still insist. Well, since I don’t mind cooking (it’s the cleaning that gets to me) I usually oblige. However, if you’re looking for a recipe to whip up you can use the below:
4 cups (or about 1 liter) white long grain rice tomatoes and 1 bell pepper (without seeds if you don’t like things too hot) OR 8 tins of plum tomato sauce and 3 tins of tomato paste 1 large Onion Salt to taste Dry Red Pepper to taste (like Cayenne pepper) Meat or chicken stock (about 1 cup or ¼ liters) or seasoning cubes (about 4) Hot water to thin out the tomato paste 16 kitchen size serving spoons of Olive Oil 2 bay leaves or a tablespoon of bay leaf
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
To start with blend the plum tomatoes, bell pepper and onion. Add hot water to the tomato paste and stir it into the blended onions and tomatoes. Put everything on the fire then add the salt, cayenne, bay leaf, garlic powder, chicken or meat stock and oil. Leave to simmer until it looks like a proper tomato sauce with the oil separated.
Next, parboil the rice to get rid of excess starch. This means putting the rice in boiling water then bringing it to a boil and rinsing it under cold water. Stir in the rice making sure there are no clumps.
Reduce the heat to simmer and for the rice to absorb the sauce. Once all the sauce has been absorbed, stir once with a wooden spoon and serve. You may also want to put the rice in a casserole dish and pour over the sauce. Put it in the oven to cook for 30 minutes on 180 degrees. Make sure you check it regularly for readiness.
What are your Jollof Rice tips? Please share them.