Nigerian jollof rice

Jollof rice is one of the most simple and easy to make Nigerian food, you’d want to start from here if you are new to Nigerian cooking.

Are you married to a Nigerian person and probably looking for an easy recipe to try out first?

Jollof rice is the most popular food in Africa and, the required ingredients are abundant in most countries of the world.

This is how we serve it in Nigeria. You can add fried meat, fried plantain or even vegetable salad.

In the last 5 years, I have tried my hands on over 14 different rice recipes and even made an ebook about them.

What you find above is a delicious plate of jollof rice plus fried beef.

I made this some weeks back and will be giving you a step by step recipe.

Ingredients for Jollof Rice

4 cups of rice
1kg Chicken/beef
1000ml of Ground Fresh tomatoes.
50ml Ground Fresh peppers
1 Teaspoon Curry powder
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Nutmeg powder
2 seasoning cubes
1 cup of sliced onions
300ml vegetable
salt to taste.
2 cloves of garlic
2 fingers of ginger

Just wash, squeeze out water inside the tomatoes, blend as is, and set aside.

You need around, 1000ml  of ground tomatoes for 4 cups of rice.

Step by Step Preparation

Step 1
Season the chicken/beef with a teaspoon of salt, one seasoning cubes, half a teaspoon each of curry and thyme, half a cup of sliced onions then let it sit for some minutes.

Set on heat and let it boil for 10-15 minutes, would take more time to cook the beef.

Step 2
Set aside the meat and the stock in fresh bowls.

Peel off the outer back of the ginger/garlic, pound, or grind.

Step 3
Parboil rice the normal way, boil about 7 cups of water in a pot, add the four cups of rice and allow boiling for 3 minutes. Then pour out and wash thoroughly with clean water, then set aside in a bowl or plastic sieve.

Step 4
Pick out the parboiled tasty meat and deep-fry, set aside.
Step 5
Once you are done with frying the chicken, reduce the oil to 250ml (1 cup) just add the remaining one cup of sliced onions, stir for 1-2 minutes, add the ground tomatoes. I like to cook jollof rice with the same oil I used while frying the meat.

Using a fresh oil is just the same as cooking without the beef stock (meat water) which actually holds over 70 percent of the ingredient that is used in making most Nigerian foods.

The end result is not the same.

How to Make Nigerian Jollof Rice.

Step 6
Frying the tomatoes would take about 20 minutes.

Fry until when you lift a portion with your frying spoon, you will notice the oil continues to boil in the spoon.

You also notice the tomatoes turning dark.

Step 7
Once the tomato is well fried, add the meat water (chicken/beef stock) to the fried tomato in the pot, the ground ginger/garlic, half a teaspoon each of curry and thyme, salt to taste, add 4 cups of water.

Add another seasoning cube. Stir and taste, it should taste overly spiced. Don’t worry, once the rice is added the taste would balance.

Step 8

Add the rice.

Then cover and allow the rice to cook on low heat for 30-45 minutes. Remember that you can add water occasionally.

Voila!!!

Turn and serve with the fried meat.

This is just how to make jollof rice, you can serve with the fried meat, salad and maybe a bottle of your favorite drink

Wondering why my meat is red? I dipped them in tomato sauce

Add 4 tbsp. of tomato sauce in a pot, while still on heat add the fried meat, allow it to heat for few minutes while you continue to turn. Serve chicken and jollof rice as you can see above.

Jollof Rice Recipe

Chef Chidi

Jollof rice double as the most popular Nigeria food and also as Nigeria's national food. Almost every Nigerian will readily accept a plate of jollof rice since most of the ethnic groups in Nigeria consider rice as a major staple food.

5 from 5 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Nigerian Cuisine

Servings 8 People

Calories 539 kcal

Equipment

• Cooker
• Pots
• Blender

Ingredients

  

• 4 cups of rice
• 1 kg meat
• 1000 ml of Ground Fresh tomatoes your blender is calibrated, 1000ml = 1 liter
• 50 ml Ground Fresh peppers
• Spices Curry, Thyme, Delice, Nutmeg, Chicken spice
• 3 Seasoning cubes
• 2 cups of sliced onions
• 300 ml Vegetable oil
• Salt to taste.
• 2 Cloves of garlic and
• 2 Fingers of ginger

Instructions

 

• Start by precooking your meat with the listed spices (a teaspoon each of thyme, curry, and salt; two seasoning cubes and sliced onion) Allow the meat to cook till tender.
• Peel of the outer back of the ginger/garlic, pound or grind.
• Parboil 4 cups of rice, wash and set aside in a plastic bowl.
• Once the meat is tender, seperate from the stock and deep fry.
• Fry the ground tomatoes until it is turning day (about 20-25 minutes) stir continously to avoid burning it.
• When the tomato is well fried, add the chicken stock (meat water).
• Add the blended ginger/garlic, a teaspoon each of curry and thyme, two teaspoons of salt
• Add 4 cups of water also, taste, add salt to taste.
• Add one seasoning cube. Stir and taste, you want it overly spiced. The rice will take some of it away.
• Allow to boil before adding the parboiled rice, stir.
• Then just cook with the pot covered till the rice is soft.
• Turn evenly and serve with the fried chicken.
• NOTE: If you don't want your jollof rice to start burning before it is well cooked, you need to remove some of the fried tomatoes before adding the rice. Then add it later.

Keyword Jollof rice recipe, Nigerian rice recipe, Step by step recipe

Video For Nigerian Jollof Rice

The jollof rice video above was made just some days back. The method is straight and easy to follow, You will also get a visual of all the ingredients that I used.

While jollof rice is the most popular food in Nigeria and also considered the national food of Nigeria, fried rice is number two on the list.

Other Nigerian Rice Recipes

I have written a detailed recipe for fried rice and also made a video for it – Fried Rice Recipe

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