How to cook jollof rice dish

Recently, I was with some friends in a restaurant waiting to share some meals together. Gradually, probably, due to the environment we were in we shifted our discussions to talking about foods. One of my associates was very keen about foods from African descent, especially from West Africa. She just said that she loves 'Jollof Rice' but doesn't know how to prepare or cook it. Well , I said that I know how to cook it and this lead to a crash cooking session where another person in our table was keen to write the recipe down. It made the need to make such knowledge available to others who may want to try this dish.

First, I want to describe in simple terms what 'Jollof Rice' is. Jollof rice is simple put a rice dish which has been together with a tomato stew that has been fried in oil with other accompaniments like meat, seasoning (herds and spices). Unlike the white rice in which the stew is served separately with the rice, the jollof rice is a mixture of cocktail of stewed ingredients.

Jollof rice is normally served with fried plantain or could be eaten solo.

Ingredients

You will need

Rice ( long grained) American rice - 2 cups

Meat of choice -chicken, beef, etc (500-1kg)

Herbs/ Spices - Nutmeg, Curry, Thyme, Basil, Celery salt (optional), ginger, Garlic, 2 cubes of knorr (chicken flavoured)

Olive oil or sun flower oil 25 - 50ml)

1 Coloured pepper (red)

! tin of chopped tomatoes

Spring onions or onions (about four stems or a small bulb)

Pots and pans

Methods

1 Wash the rice in cold water and par boil the rice in hot boiling water. As soon as the water is boiling turn of the light and sieve the rice. Wash the rice.

2. Dice the meat and add the seasoning s (salts, herb. spices ) a dash of each of the seasoning s of your choice. Cook the meat until it's coked say for 20minutes.

3. Divide the broth from the meat into two and use one part to cook the rice further and leave the other for the stew,

4. Put the oil in a clean pan and boil until hot. Add the tomatoes which had been blended in a blender together with the red pepper and onions. Fry for about 20 minutes turning regularly with spoon. Add your choice of seasoings and the diced spring onions. Pour in the other half of the broth and boil for a further 10 - 15 minutes. Add salt to your taste and pepper as the case may be.

5. Turn off the light and pour the stew over the rice and turn the mixture with a wooden spoon. Continue to add more stew to the rice until the mixture is completely saturated with stew,

6. You may decide to roast your choice of meet in the oven, mx it with the stew or just leave it as it is; plain.

7. Dish out your Jollof rice in a plate and enjoy. You may serve it with fried plantain (slice or diced plantain fried in deep fryer with vegetable oil until golden brown)