My Classic Stove Top Jollof Rice
About This Recipe
As we welcome Spring, I don’t think Spring would be Spring without jollof rice. The brightness, richness and fullness of this dish makes it a perfect spring meal. In fact Jollof rice is a perfect meal for all weathers :)). I remember growing up as a child and running into the house from school. I would rummage through the kitchen for jollof rice and mommy always had some made. We used to have jollof rice every Wednesdays and my mother (GOD Bless her) never failed to give us our jollof rice. My mother is a retired chef as well as a caterer and on top of that she always had to make dozens of pastries, snacks, and food to fill orders from various clients, and no matter how tired she was, not a week passed without Jollof Wednesdays. My Ajebutters love jollof rice and they call it “orange rice.” My Ajebutter2 calls it “orange fried rice.” :)… I got tired of correcting him so any time he asks “Mommy what is for dinner?” and I know I am making jollof rice, I just reply “orange fried rice)
There are various variations to this recipe and I do have a couple, but I like this one because it is easy and straight to the point.
Ingredients
Instructions
- wash rice under running water until clear and drain.
- in a blender chop and smoothly blend the tomatoes, peppers and half of the onion. Pour it into a sauce pan and boil to remove excess water. I get too tired sometimes, so I blend the tomato mix with less water or none; that way there is no need to boil it out and I just go straight to frying…Not a Lazychef for nothing teeheehee)
- Put a knob of butter into a cooking pot to melt; then pour in the oil and the other half of the onion(slice first). Sauté the onion until translucent; then add the curry, thyme, cloves, black pepper, white pepper and bay leaf. Stir fry for a few minutes; then add the tomato paste and fry until the paste looks a little dry. Add in the blended tomatoes along with the garlic, season with some bouillon(if using)and thoroughly fry until the mixture looks dark and the oil floats to the top (Drain off any excess oil). Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the raw rice; making sure the tomato mixture coats each grain. Pour in the meat stock, check for seasonings and return the pot to the heat. Bring the pot to a boil, cover with a foil wrapper to trap the steam; then reduce the heat. Cook the rice for about 10-15 minutes or until aldente; do not stir. If the rice is not soft enough after 15minutes, just put the foil wrapper and pot cover back on the pot and let it steam in it’s own heat for another 10minutes(you may turn off the heat at this point or set your stove on the lowest heat). When the rice soft enough for your liking, grate in some nut meg and ginger and slice in the garnishes; then stir. Let the rice rest once more; then serve.
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