Jollof Rice

Jollof rice is a very aromatic and flavoursome one pot rice meal. As with most African recipes, there’s a lot of room for improvisation, so you can have Jollof on its own as part of a vegetarian meal or with grilled meats. You can also prepare a chicken or meat version of Jollof rice. This recipe is served in West and Central Africa.

What you need:

• 3 – 4 cups basmati rice
• 5 to10 fl.oz olive oil
• 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 medium sized onions
• 2 canned plum tomatoes
• 2 fat cloves of garlic
• A small piece of ginger
• 2 - 3  scotch bonnet chilies (reduce if you don’t like it spicy)
• 1 stock cube (either vegetarian or otherwise)
• Dried mixed herbs
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt to taste

How you make it:

1. Blend the ginger, garlic, chilies, canned tomatoes and two onions and set aside for later.

2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry the chopped onions till soft and golden brown then add the tomato puree and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the blended tomato and onion mixture from earlier and leave to cook through till the tomato mixture has lost its raw taste and the oil is visible at the top.

4. Add the stock, bay leaf and a sprinkle of the mixed herbs. Leave to simmer for about 3 minutes while you rinse the rice to remove excess starch.

5. When rice is rinsed, add to the sauce stirring it to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Add 2 cups of water to the rice and sauce mix and stir, add salt to taste and cook till the water is almost evaporated.

6. Now, cover and simmer on a low heat till rice is fully cooked.

Serve with fried plantain and a crisp green leaf salad on the side.