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Free recipe from the book
Party Jollof Rice
Smoky, oven-finished, never mushy
Party jollof gets its smoky flavour from the bottom of a big pot over firewood. At home in Europe, we get close with a well-fried pepper base, a tight foil seal and a few minutes of deliberate 'bottom-pot' at the end. Finishing it in the oven cooks it evenly with no burnt layer to scrub.
Ingredients
- 600 g parboiled long-grain rice (Parboiled Langkornreis / easy-cook rice)
- 4 red bell peppers, 3 plum tomatoes (or 1 × 400 g tin), 2 scotch bonnets, 1 onion: blended
- 1 onion, sliced
- 120 ml vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp dried thyme, 3 bay leaves, ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 750 ml chicken stock
- 2–3 stock cubes, salt to taste
- 2 tbsp butter
- To serve: sliced tomato and onion rings
Germany & EU
- Parboiled rice ('Parboiled Reis' or 'Langkornreis parboiled') is the closest match to Nigerian rice and is sold everywhere.
- Smoked paprika (Paprika geräuchert) is optional, but it helps recreate the firewood flavour indoors.
United Kingdom
- Easy-cook long grain rice (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda) works perfectly. Basmati also works if you use 100 ml less stock.
Method
- Boil the blended pepper mix uncovered for 20 minutes to reduce it by about a third.
- Rinse the rice in warm water 2–3 times until the water runs almost clear. Drain.
- Heat the oil in a heavy, wide pot (ideally ovenproof). Fry the sliced onion for 2 minutes, add the tomato paste and fry for 5 minutes until brick red.
- Add the reduced pepper blend, curry, thyme, bay leaves and smoked paprika. Fry for 15 minutes until the oil floats.
- Stir in the stock and stock cubes; taste. It should be slightly saltier than you'd like, because the rice absorbs it. Add the rice and stir well. The liquid should just about cover the rice.
- Oven method: cover with foil and then the lid. Bake at 180 °C (160 °C fan) for 30–35 minutes, stirring once halfway. Stovetop method: cover the same way and cook on the lowest heat for 30 minutes, without stirring.
- For the smoky 'party' finish, put the pot on medium-high heat for 3–5 minutes without stirring, until you smell a light toastiness from the bottom. Then turn it off.
- Stir in the butter, fluff the rice and serve with sliced tomato and onion.
SFA tip
If the rice is still hard but the liquid is gone, sprinkle over 3–4 tbsp water, re-cover and give it 10 more minutes. Don't pour in a lot of water.
Storage: Fridge 3 days · freezer 2 months. Reheat with a splash of water, covered.