Stranger Foods

Jollof rice

Serves 4 | Prep 15 mins | Cook 45 mins

This is the ultimate West African party dish. It is made in huge pans, often with whole chickens. The colour is a festive red and the taste is sweet, savoury, punchy with the zing of the peppers, and yet has a quickening tang that makes the dish a meal in itself.

Source: Pimp My Rice

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
2.5 cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large red pepper, deseeded and diced
400 g chopped tomatoes
½ Scotch bonnet, deseeded (optional)
1 tbsp tomato puree/paste
1 tbsp thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp paprika
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp dried shrimp
1 tsp soft brown sugar
350 g white basmati rice, rinsed and drained
750 ml chicken stock
freshly snipped chives
salt

Instructions

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Heat the oil and butter in a deep heavy-based saucepan. Add the onion, ginger, garlic and red pepper and fry over a medium heat until the onior begins to become brown and sweet.
Add the tomatoes, Scotch bonnet, tomato puree/paste, thyme, both the paprikas, the ground cumin, dried shrimp and sugar and season with salt to taste. Simmer this mixture over a medium-low heat for around . The oils in the mixture should begin to stain red and sit as a veneer on top of the tomato sauce.
With a hand blender or a conventional blender, blend the mixture to a smooth paste, then return it to the pan if necessary.
Stir in the rice and continue to stir for about over a medium-low heat. Now slowly pour in the stock and simmer over a low heat for about . Stir occasionally during the early stages of cooking but never once the rice begins to form a more solid mass. If the rice begins to look very dry, add a little extra water. Once all the liquid has been absorbed, put a tightly fitting lid over the rice and switch off the heat. Leave the pan for .
Remove the lid, sprinkle with the snipped chives and serve either on its own or as sweet, heat-tinged accompaniment to chicken and fish dishes.

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