Rice Recipes

                                      

                 How to cook Jollof Rice

   

 

 

The Nigerian food recipe discussed here is the basic jollof rice. This is the most popular Nigerian rice recipe. This is why you will always see it in parties. It is quite easy to prepare if you follow the simple steps. Other variations of jollof rice can be found at:

Ingredients

• Rice - 3 cigar cups | 750g
• 12 medium sized fresh Plum Tomatoes (Jos Tomatoes)
• 20g of tinned / canned tomato puree
• Vegetable Oil
• Chicken (whole chicken, drumsticks or chicken breast)
• Pepper and salt - to taste
• Onions - 3 medium sized bulbs
• Seasoning – 3 Maggi/Knorr cubes & Thyme (1 teaspoon)

Before you cook Jollof Rice

If you will use whole chicken then wash and cut it into pieces. Place the pieces in a pot; add water till it just covers the pieces of chicken, add the chopped onions (2 bulbs) and 1 teaspoon of thyme and start cooking. The cooking time depends on the type of chicken. The rooster or cockerel cooks much faster than the hen. When the chicken is almost done, add 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes and a small amount of salt. Keep cooking till done. Put the pieces of chicken in a sieve to drain, then fry with vegetable oil. You can also grill it in an oven. This is to give it a golden look which is more presentable especially if you have guests for dinner.
Parboil the rice using the method detailed in parboiling rice for cooking jollof rice. Wash the parboiled rice and put in a sieve so all the water drains out.
Wash, blend and fry the fresh tomatoes in vegetable oil with 1 bulb of chopped onions. A well-fried tomato is essential to this Nigerian food recipe. This can make or mar your jollof rice so read How to Make Tomato Stew.

Cooking Directions

1. Pour the chicken stock into the tomato sauce and leave to boil.
2. Add the drained parboiled rice, salt and pepper to taste. The water level should be slightly less than the level of the rice; at most it should be at the same level as the rice. This is to ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked.
3. Cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way the rice does not burn before the water dries up.

If you parboiled the rice as described at parboiling rice for cooking jollof rice, the rice should be done by the time the water is dry. Confirm that the rice is done by tasting it. If not, you will need to add more water and reduce the heat to prevent burning. Keep cooking till done.
Serve with fried plantain, Moi Moi, Nigerian salad or coleslaw.
You can spice up this recipe by adding 2 well known vegetables to arrive at what we refer to as Mixed Vegetables Jollof Rice. Why not try it next time?

                   How to cook Fried Rice

  

The Nigerian Fried Rice must be the best thing that happened to birthday parties, weddings, street parties, picnics, special events and occassions.

 

 

Ingredients

• Rice - 3 cigar cups | 750g
• Vegetable Oil
• Chicken (whole chicken or chicken drumsticks)
• Cow Liver (100g)
• Plain Yellow Curry Powder – no chilli (1 tablespoon)
• Green Beans (a handful)
• 5 medium sized carrots
• Salt (to taste)
• Onions - 3 medium sized bulbs
• Seasoning – 3 Maggi/Knorr cubes & Thyme (1 teaspoon)

Before you cook the Fried Rice

Cut the vegetables

Wash all the vegetables to be used in cooking the fried rice. Scrape and cut the carrots into tiny cubes. Cut the green beans into small pieces of about 0.7cm long. Soak these 2 vegetables separately in hot water for about 5 minutes and drain. Cut 1 bulb of onion. Set all these aside.

Prepare the liver and chicken

Cook the cow liver till done and cut into tiny pieces.
Cut the whole chicken into pieces and cook with 1 teaspoon of thyme and 2 bulbs of chopped onions. When the chicken is almost done, add 3 cubes of Maggi / Knorr seasoning and a small amount of salt. Remember to add water sparingly. Cook till tender. Put the pieces of chicken in a sieve to drain, then fry with vegetable oil. It can also be grilled in an oven till it is golden. This gives it a glowing look which is more presentable especially when you are entertaining guests.

Cooking Directions

1. Parboil the rice using the method detailed in parboiling rice for cooking fried rice. Wash the parboiled rice and put in a sieve so all the water drains out.
2. Pour the chicken stock into a sieve to remove all traces of onions, thyme etc used in cooking the chicken. Pour the stock into a pot and set to boil. Once the water boils, add the parboiled rice. Also, add 1 tablespoon of plain yellow curry powder, then add salt to taste. The plain yellow curry powder is merely for colouring so should not contain chilli.
3. The water level should be slightly less than the level of the rice; at most it should be at the same level as the rice. This is to ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked. Stir the contents; cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way the rice does not burn before the water dries up.
4. Once the water has dried up, check that the rice is cooked. Perfect fried rice is one that the grains are separated from one another, resistant to the bite but not hard.
5. Now, transfer the rice to a casserole dish or another pot to help cool it down quickly. This is essential to keep the grains from sticking to each other. If left in the original hot pot, the rice will continue to cook and eventually stick together.
At this point, it is advisable to divide the vegetables into say 4, 5 or even 6 equal parts. The rice will be fried in batches so this number depends on the quantity of rice you can comfortably fry in the pan or pot. Also, divide the cooked rice and the diced cow liver into the same number of equal parts.
6. Now pour a small amount of vegetable oil into a frying pan. This quantity of oil should be such that it would be absorbed by 1 part of the cooked rice and 1 part each of the vegetables. When the oil is hot, add 1 part of diced onions and stir for 10 seconds, followed by 1 part of diced cow liver, one part each of the diced vegetables, then 1 part of cooked rice.
7. Add more salt if necessary. More curry powder may also be added at this stage if you need to touch up on the colour. Stir till all the ingredients have mixed well and transfer to a dry pot. Repeat this for the remaining batches of the ingredients.

The fried rice is ready. Serve with fried chicken. You can add coleslaw, Moi Moi or Nigerian salad.
VERY IMPORTANT:
Nigerian Fried Rice can go bad very quickly. You can avoid this by spreading it to cool it then refrigerate immediately. Otherwise, eat it once you finish preparing it. If you want to serve it at a party, please cook it very close to the serving time, if not, it will go bad! If refrigerated, it can last for 48 hours without loosing its taste.

                   How to cook Coconut Rice

 

This Nigerian food is called the Jollof Rice with a twist! It feels good to see the looks on your guests' or friends' faces when they think you are serving them the good old Jollof Rice but bam, the moment the first spoon enters the mouth, you are sure to get the looks of pleasure! It makes you feel good, doesn't it? Yes, it looks the same as the Jollof Rice you know but the aroma and taste is different. Why don't you surprise your guests tonight by preparing this easy dinner recipe?

Ingredients

• Rice - 3 cigar cups | 750g
• 12 medium sized fresh Plum Tomatoes (Jos Tomatoes)
• 1 coconut
• 20g of tinned / canned tomato puree
• Vegetable Oil
• Chicken (whole chicken or drumsticks)
• Pepper - to taste
• Salt (to taste)
• Onions - 3 medium sized bulbs
• Seasoning – 3 Maggi/Knorr cubes & Thyme (1 teaspoon)

Before you cook Coconut Rice

If you will use whole chicken then you need to start early. Wash and cut the whole chicken into pieces. Place the pieces in a pot; add water till it just covers the pieces of chicken, add the chopped onions (2 bulbs) and 1 teaspoon of thyme and start cooking. The cooking time depends on the type of chicken. The rooster or cockerel cooks much faster than the hen. When the chicken is almost done, add 3 Maggi / Knorr cubes and a small amount of salt. Keep cooking till done. Put the pieces of chicken in a sieve to drain, then fry with vegetable oil. You can also grill it in an oven. This is to give it a golden look which is more presentable especially if you have guests for dinner.
Now is the time to extract the coconut milk. This is quite an easy task if you follow the procedure detailed in How to Extract Coconut Milk. Set the coconut milk aside.
Parboil the rice using the method detailed in parboiling rice for cooking coconut rice. Wash the parboiled rice and put in a sieve so all the water drains out.
Now, it is time to prepare the tomato sauce. It is usually advisable to prepare tomato sauce before hand and keep in the freezer. This is so that whenever you want to cook any jollof rice related dish, it is just a matter of adding it to your cooking.
Wash, blend and fry the fresh tomatoes in vegetable oil and chopped onions (1 medium bulb). Remember to remove the tomato seeds. Fry till all the water and sour taste are gone from the tomato puree. A well-fried tomato puree is essential to this Nigerian food recipe. Read How to Prepare Tomato Stew for details on how to make the perfect tomato sauce.

Cooking Directions

1. Now we need a pot big enough to accommodate the rice till it is done. Bear in mind that the rice will normally rise by at least one quarter of its quantity from the parboiled state to the done state.
2. Pour the chicken stock, coconut milk and the tomato sauce into the selected pot. Set on the stove to boil. Add the drained parboiled rice, salt and pepper to taste. The water level should be the same as the level of the rice. This is to ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked.
3. Cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way the rice does not burn before the water dries up.

If you parboiled the rice as described at parboiling rice for cooking coconut rice, the rice should be done by the time the water is dry. Confirm that the rice is done by tasting it. That’s the way coconut rice is cooked.
Serve with fried plantain, Moi Moi, Nigerian salad or coleslaw.

                      Nigerian White Rice 

 

                           
The Nigerian White Rice and Stew is a popular Nigerian rice recipe because it lets you eat rice with any stew or sauce of your choice. This rice recipe is usually eaten with Tomato Stew which we almost always have in the freezer so it is just a matter of boiling white rice. So if you already have Tomato Stew in your freezer, the Nigerian White Rice and Stew will be one easy dinner recipe to make if you are tired after a long busy day.
Cooking white rice is as easy as boiling eggs for breakfast. It is usually cooked plain with no added ingredients. Some people add salt but this is optional.
This procedure applies to the long grain white rice.

Ingredients

• Rice
• Salt (Optional)

Cooking Directions

1. Parboil the rice using the method detailed in How to Parboil Rice for Cooking White Rice. You may want to parboil it for much longer depending on personal preference.
2. Pour the rice in a sieve to drain out the hot water.
3. Dip in cold water, then wash and drain.
4. Meanwhile set some water to boil in a pot big enough to accommodate the rice bearing in mind that the rice will rise some more. The extent of rising depends on the type of rice and for how long it was parboiled.
5. Add the parboiled rice and salt (optional). Check to see that the water level is just about the same as the rice.
6. Cook till the water is just about drying up. Check that the rice is done. If not, add more water and keep cooking.
7. Keep checking till the rice is done. Leave to dry completely. This is usually confirmed by a ticking sound coming from the pot.