Jollof Rice
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Serves 6 people
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- oil for frying
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 420g tin chopped Roma tomatoes
- 6 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1-2 scotch bonnet peppers (2 will be spicy)
- 2 red capsicums, seeded and chopped
- 2 cups long grain rice
- 4-5 pieces chicken
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 1 inch ginger, sliced into matchsticks
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 500ml chicken stock
- 3 bay leaves
Step 1 - First make the tomato stew. Fry the first lot of onions and garlic in a large pot in 2 tablespoons of oil. Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, scotch bonnet peppers and capsicums and bring to a boil. Simmer until all the water has disappeared-around 20-30 minutes. You can make this a few days ahead and store it in the fridge.
Step 2 - Heat a bit more oil in the pan and brown the chicken. Add the second lot of onions, garlic, ginger, curry powder, chicken stock, bay leaves and tomato stew. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains and then top with the chicken pieces. Place the lid on snugly and allow to cook on low to medium heat for 20 minutes. Check after 10 minutes to see if the mix needs more water and add a little if needed. Then turn the rice and chicken to ensure that it all cooked and keep cooking for another 10 minutes until the chicken becomes soft. The prize is the caramelised bits of rice stuck to the bottom of the pan.