Jollof and West African Rice
Cooking Skills: Rice 2
Chapter 6 · Jollof and West African Rice
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The basics
Jollof rice is cooked all over West Africa, and the best way to start an argument at a Nigerian, Ghanaian or Senegalese dinner table is to say whose is best. They share one idea: rice is cooked in a rich tomato-and-pepper sauce, so every grain takes on its colour and taste.
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Blend the base | Red pepper, onion, tomato, chilli | Smooth sauce, even flavour |
| Fry it down | Simmer until thick and the oil separates | Removes the raw tomato taste and deepens the colour |
| Add rice and stock | Rinsed parboiled rice and hot stock | Rice cooks in the sauce |
| Seal and steam | Foil under a tight lid, lowest heat | Steam finishes the rice without stirring |
| Rest, then fluff | 10 minutes off the heat | Moisture evens out |
Easy-cook (parboiled) rice holds its shape in a lot of sauce, and the grains stay separate. Ordinary long-grain rice also works, but it cooks faster and needs less liquid (see the experiment).
Try it
Basic jollof rice
Jollof is a West African rice cooked in a thick red sauce of tomato, pepper and onion. The skill is in the sauce: it is fried down until it thickens and the oil separates, which is where the flavour is. Parboiled (easy-cook) rice is traditional because it stays separate in a lot of sauce.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 150 g easy-cook (parboiled) long-grain rice
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 onion, half roughly chopped and half sliced
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 slice of scotch bonnet or 1 mild red chilli (optional)
- 2 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 175 ml hot reduced-salt stock
- Blend the red pepper, the chopped half of the onion, the tomatoes and the chilli (if using) until smooth.
- Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan with a lid. Fry the sliced onion for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée and curry powder and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the blended sauce, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce has thickened to about 250 ml and a layer of red oil has separated. Don't skip this: the colour and sweetness come from it.
- Rinse the rice until the water is clear, and stir it into the sauce with the hot stock and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil.
- Cover with foil, press it down round the edge, and add the lid. Cook on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, without stirring.
- Turn off the heat and rest for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and chilli, then fluff the rice to mix in the sauce.
Party jollof (smoky)
At parties jollof is often cooked on a wood fire, so the bottom layer catches and gives a smoky taste. At home, you can get close with smoked paprika and a controlled catch at the end.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 150 g easy-cook (parboiled) long-grain rice
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1 onion, half roughly chopped and half sliced
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 slice of scotch bonnet or 1 mild red chilli (optional)
- 2 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 175 ml hot reduced-salt stock
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp butter
- Make the basic jollof as in the previous recipe, adding the smoked paprika with the curry powder and the butter with the stock.
- When the 25 to 30 minutes of steaming are up, remove the foil and lid and turn the heat to medium for 2 to 3 minutes, without stirring, until you can smell a light toasty, smoky scent from the bottom.
- Take it off the heat at once, cover and rest for 10 minutes. Scrape up the toasted bits and mix them through. Stop if it smells burnt.
Jollof with chicken and plantain
Jollof is usually served with chicken and sweet fried plantain. Baking both keeps it lighter and lets the oven do the work while the rice steams.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 150 g easy-cook rice and the jollof sauce from the basic recipe (all the ingredients above)
- 250 g chicken thighs, skin on
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 ripe (yellow-black) plantain, peeled and sliced on the diagonal
- 1 tsp oil, for the plantain
- Heat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional, gas 7). Rub the chicken with the curry powder, oil and salt, and put it on a baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden, with juices running clear and no pink at the bone.
- Make the basic jollof while the chicken cooks.
- Toss the plantain slices with the oil on a second tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until soft and caramelised at the edges.
- Serve the jollof with the chicken and plantain on the side.
Vegetable jollof
The vegetables steam on top of the rice, so they stay bright.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 150 g easy-cook rice and the jollof sauce from the basic recipe (all the ingredients above)
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 60 g green beans, cut into 1 cm pieces
- 60 g frozen peas
- Make the basic jollof, using vegetable stock.
- After the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, quickly lift the foil, scatter the carrot and green beans on top and re-cover. After a further 8 minutes, add the peas on top. Finish the cooking time.
- Rest for 10 minutes and gently fold the vegetables through.
Experiments
Cook the sauce down or not
See why the 20 minutes is worth it.
- Make two small jollofs. In one, simmer the sauce for 20 minutes until the oil separates. In the other, simmer for only 5 minutes.
- Cook both with the same rice, stock and time, and taste.
Look for: The short-cooked sauce is sharper, thinner and more raw. The long-cooked one is sweeter, darker, and more savoury.
Foil seal or not
Does the steam matter?
- Cook two small batches of jollof. Seal one with foil under the lid, and just cover the other with the lid.
- Check how much sauce remains at the end, and the rice texture.
Look for: Without the foil the liquid steams off and the top stays hard. With it, the rice is evenly cooked.
Parboiled or ordinary long-grain
Does the rice type change the cooking?
- Make two small jollofs, one with easy-cook rice and one with ordinary long-grain rice. Use the same sauce, but only 120 ml of stock for the ordinary rice, and check it after 15 minutes.
- Compare the grains.
Look for: Ordinary long-grain cooks sooner and can turn soft and sticky, parboiled rice stays firm and separate. Which would you cook for a crowd?
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic jollof | ||||
| Party jollof | ||||
| Jollof with chicken and plantain | ||||
| Vegetable jollof | ||||
| Sauce 5 vs 20 minutes | ||||
| Foil vs no foil | ||||
| Parboiled vs ordinary rice |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Rice sticky and mushy | Too much liquid, stirred, or sauce too thin | Cook the sauce down first; measure the stock; don't stir |
| Rice hard in the middle | Too little liquid, or lid leaked | Add 3 tablespoons of hot water, re-seal and cook 5 more minutes |
| Sauce tastes sharp or raw | Not fried down enough | Simmer the sauce until the oil separates |
| Burnt bottom (not smoky) | Heat too high | Lowest heat; check the base is not scorched before the end |
| Pale | Not enough tomato purée or cooking down | Use the purée and the full simmer |
| Too hot | Too much chilli | Use a thin slice, or remove the whole chilli early |
- I can make a tomato and pepper base and cook it down properly.
- I know why the rice is sealed and left unstirred.
- I can tell when jollof is cooked and when it is catching.
- I know the difference between parboiled and ordinary rice.
- I can bake chicken and plantain to go with it.