So Jamie Oliver hit a few nerves with his jollof rice concept. I don’t know about jollof rice being a concept more than a recipe, but I do know that people around the country, and even the continent, relish the dish; a Nigerian party is not complete without jollof rice. There are different varieties of jollof rice, but today I will deliver a simple version. Take a look.
Ingredients
500g long grain rice
500g plum tomatoes (or enough to make about 1 litre of puree)
Fresh peppers
500g chicken thighs (or any part you prefer)
2 large onions
Sunflower Oil (Soya or Canola oil is also fine)
2tsps curry powder
Salt
Procedure
1. Pre-heat the oven grill to about 175°C
2. Marinate the chicken in a spice mixture of your choice and leave to soak in the juices
3. Put about a litre of salted water to boil.
4. Wash the uncooked rice free of sand and weevils. Pour into the boiling water and bring to the boil for about 10 minutes.
5. Pour the rice into a sieve and wash the starch off the rice. Leave the rice to drain.
6. In another pot, heat up some oil. Chop and onions and saute in the pan of hot oil till soft and translucent.
7. Pour in the tomato puree and peppers. Bring to the boil. Season to your taste.
8. Add the drained rice to the stew mix with water and oil. Let the liquid be just above the rice level. Reduce the heat and cook till it is soft and free of water.
9. Place the chicken in the grill and leave until well cooked.
10. The rice should have steam holes on the top when properly cooked. Turn off the heat.
Serve hot with the grilled chicken. Jollof rice may also be eaten with fried plantain and moin-moin. Spice it up, and make varieties of your choice. Have a good weekend.