Jollof Rice

Name: Jollof Rice
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 cup rice, parboiled long grain (rinsed until the water runs clear); 2 unit tomato (plum, quartered); 1 unit red bell pepper (seeded, chopped); 1 unit scotch bonnet (stemmed); 1 unit onion (half for the blend, half sliced); 2 tbsp tomato paste; 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 cup chicken stock; 2 clove garlic (minced); 1 tsp ginger (grated); 1 tsp curry powder; 1 tsp thyme (dried); 1 unit bay leaf; 1 tsp salt; ¼ tsp black pepper (ground)

Noodles & Rice · African & Middle Eastern

15 ingredients · 70 minutes · 2 servings

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601kcal10.6g protein21.8g fat92.2g carbs*

sometimes contains gluten — check the label · only in an optional ingredient: dairy

Restrictions

Sometimes contains — check the labelgluten (curry powder)Some brands have it, some do not. The recipe cannot tell, so this is the one you check yourself.

Only if you add itdairy (butter)Leave that ingredient out and the dish does not have it.

Diets

No porkNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

1 cup	rice, parboiled long grain (rinsed until the water runs clear)
2 unit	tomato (plum, quartered)
1 unit	red bell pepper (seeded, chopped)
1 unit	scotch bonnet (stemmed)
1 unit	onion (half for the blend, half sliced)
2 tbsp	tomato paste
3 tbsp	vegetable oil
1 cup	chicken stock
2 clove	garlic (minced)
1 tsp	ginger (grated)
1 tsp	curry powder
1 tsp	thyme (dried)
1 unit	bay leaf
1 tsp	salt
¼ tsp	black pepper (ground)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

1 tbsp	butter
¼ cup	green peas
1 unit	carrot (small dice)
2 tbsp	scallion (sliced)
½ tsp	sugar

Steps

Mix5 min
blender, smooth
tomato + red bell pepper + scotch bonnet + half the onion + garlic + ginger, blended to a loose purée = the base. Do not add water to help it turn over; every spoonful you add here is a spoonful you have to boil off later, and boiling it off later is what burns the bottom
Saute5 min
medium, in the oil
sliced onion + tomato paste, stirred constantly until the paste turns from bright red to brick and stops smelling tinny — raw paste is sour and stays sour through the whole cook
Reduce15 min
medium, uncovered, stirring often
+ blended base, cooked down until the volume drops by roughly half, the surface goes matte, and a slick of oil breaks back out at the edges. That oil separating is the signal: it means the water is gone and what is left is concentrated tomato, so the stock you add next is the entire liquid budget and you actually know its number
Season5 min
medium
+ curry powder + thyme + bay leaf + salt + black pepper + chicken stock, brought to a boil and tasted now — the rice will sit under a lid for 25 minutes and you cannot correct salt through it without stirring, and stirring is what you are about to give up
Mix2 min
off heat briefly
+ rinsed parboiled rice, folded through once so every grain is coated and the liquid sits level with the rice or a hair below. Rinsing mattered: the loose surface starch is what glues grains into a porridge
Simmer25 min
lowest heat, tight lid, no stirring
covered, undisturbed. Lay foil under the lid if it does not seal — the rice is cooking in trapped steam, not in liquid, and every peek vents the steam that is meant to cook the top layer. Do not stir: agitating hot rice shears the grains and releases starch, which is the difference between separate grains and clumped ones. The scorched layer at the bottom is not a mistake; it is the smoke that party jollof is prized for
Rest10 min
off heat, still covered
the pot sits sealed so residual steam finishes the top and the grains firm up before they are moved. Fluff with a fork from the edge inward, folding in butter, peas and carrot if using — a spoon crushes; a fork lifts