Recipe: Jollof Rice

Jollof rice ("gel"-"loff") is an African food. It is popularly eaten in Nigeria. I don't think I've ever been to a Nigerian party and not seen Jollof Rice. In schools in Nigeria, you can find it on their menu!
I'm not a huge fan of this (I'm not a huge fan of anything), but people love this (including non-Africans) and I have a recipe for it (that is not the traditional recipe, if there is one). So, here it is:

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Ingredients
1-2 tbsp pure vegetable oil or canola oil

1 large onions, sliced

8 medium-sized frozen tomatoes

4 tbsp tomato purée

2-4 chilli peppers (or any hot pepper) chopped irregularly

Thyme leaves or basil(to taste)

1 tsp ginger

225g/8oz long-grain rice

Salt (to taste) (optional)

1-1.5 tsp sugar (optional)

Preparation method

Place the frozen tomatoes in a bowl of hot water to defrost.

Rinse the rice well to remove excess starch then cook it till it is almost done.

Pour out the water the tomatoes are in, make holes in the tomatoes (using the tip of a knife) and drain the liquid in them into the bowl.

Cut the tomatoes irregularly

Heat the oil in a large pan (saucepan/pot) and cook the onions over a gentle heat until translucent.

Stir in the tomatoes and let it fry for a few minutes.

Add the tomato puree and stir. Let what's in the saucepan fry for about a minute.

Add the liquid drained from the tomatoes, a little at a time, to what's in saucepan and stir. You should have something like a semi-thick sauce. 

Let the "sauce" cook for a few minutes stirring continuously.

Add the peppers and ginger and continue stirring. For about half a minute.

Add the salt and the sugar and stir for about a minute.

Turn off the heat

Add the rice to the contents of the sauce pan and stir till every grain is coated, you can add a little more oil and a little water to the saucepan and stir.

Turn the heat back on (high) for about a minute stirring continuously to make sure every grain is coated then reduce the heat to low.

Cover the saucepan and let the contents of it cook a bit long, or until the rice is fully done or closer to done.

Serve.

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In Nigeria, most of the time, Jollof rice is eaten with plantains on the side. I don't know where plantains can be found anywhere, but in England and African countries. In African countries, it can be found in any food-selling local marketplace and in England, in Indian grocery stores or supermarkets.

I will talk about making plantain in a different blog entry.

Thanks for reading!

If you try out this recipe, please send me a picture of your finished dish and a review of the dish.