Ingredients
- 3 cups of long grain rice
- 1 small tin of tomato paste
- 4 whole tomatoes
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 scotch bonnets peppers
- ¾ cups or 3 cook spoons of vegetable oil
- 2 ½ cups of meat or chicken stock
- 1 medium size onion (sliced)
- ½ tsp of thyme
- ½ tsp of curry
- 2 small Bay leaves (optional)
- Salt (add as desired)
- 1 stock cube
- Water, as needed
- 2lb of meat (needed for serving with the Jollof Rice)
Procedure
- Boil the meat with the spices (thyme and curry) and onions until done, then drain the meat stock into a clean bowl and set aside. Fry or grill the meat.
- Pour the rice into a bowl, wash with water until the water is clear, also to get rid of the starch as well, drain the rice. Then, boil some water and pour it into the rice, stir it and leave for about 10 minutes, stir again, drain the water off with a clean sieve (napkin).
- Blend all the ingredients together, do not add the tomato paste. Pour into a bowl.
- Place the pot you are using onto the stove, pour the oil, when the oil is hot, add some chopped onions, some spices, stir, then fry for a few minutes to bring out the flavor, then add the blended ingredients to the pot. Stir, cover and leave to boil for 12 minutes, add some tomato paste, meat stock, thyme, curry, cubes and some salt, leave to boil for 5 minutes, add the rest of the tomato paste, a bit of water if the stock was not enough, allow to boil for some minutes, open the pot, stir.
- Then, cook till the sour taste has dissipated, add the rice and the bay leave, turn and cook on low heat. The sauce should be the same level as the rice, or stir thoroughly, cover and cook for some minutes on a medium heat till it boils, then stir and cook on low heat to avoid it from burning. Stir at intervals.
- Now, open the pot, check if the water has dried up in the rice, if it has, taste some grains to see if you need to add more water or salt. Then, cover and allow it to simmer until done. Still leave it on the stove to dry very well after putting off the heat.
- After the rice has dried, remove it from the stove, open the lid to allow the rice to cool off to avoid it from going bad. You can also transfer it from the pot to a clean dish or a big serving bowl.
Enjoy it with the grilled, fried or sauced meat and also with Moi Moi, Fried Plantain or Salad.
Tips: It is very important to always use the tomato paste or puree because it gives it that reddish orange color.
This recipe is taken from “Claraz recipes” app, an e-coobook available in Apple store and Google play.
Claraz Recipes 