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Jollof rice is West Africa's one-pot tomato rice: rice cooked in a blended base of tomato, pepper and onion until the colour and flavour go all the way through, so it isn't rice with sauce on it but rice that has become the sauce.
It comes from the Senegambian coast, and it takes its name from the Wolof, or Jolof, empire that ruled there. Every country along the coast has made it its own, which is why the argument over whose jollof is best never ends. Here is each version, what makes it different, and AFN's recipe for it.
The tomato base is shared. The rice, the seasoning and what goes in the pot are where the countries part ways.
Senegal
Thieboudienne (ceebu jen)Rice: Rice cooked in the braising liquid
The ancestor: whole fish and vegetables braised in tomato, then the rice cooked in what they leave behind. The name means rice and fish in Wolof.
The Gambia
BenachinRice: Long-grain rice
Wolof for one pot: meat, rice and vegetables such as aubergine and cabbage cooked together in a single vessel.
Nigeria
Jollof rice (party jollof)Rice: Long-grain parboiled rice
A reduced tomato and pepper stew base with thyme, curry powder and bay leaf, cooked until orange-red. The version served at every Nigerian party.
Nigeria
Native jollof (iwuk edesi)Rice: Medium-grain rice
No tomato: built on palm oil with locust beans, dried fish, crayfish and scent leaf, so it comes out darker and more savoury. From southeastern Nigeria.
Ghana
Ghana jollof riceRice: Basmati (some cooks use jasmine)
Aromatic rather than fiery, seasoned with curry powder, garlic and ginger. The fragrant rice is the clearest line between Ghanaian and Nigerian jollof.
Liberia
Liberian jollof riceRice: Long-grain parboiled rice
Sweetened with onion and sweet pepper, sharpened with garlic and ginger, and finished with a smokiness Liberian cooks treat as the mark of a pot done properly.
Côte d'Ivoire
Ivorian jollof riceRice: Jasmine rice
The Francophone version: cabbage and carrot cooked in the pot with the rice, seasoned with thyme, ginger, garlic and scotch bonnet.
| Country | Version | Rice | What makes it different |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senegal | Thieboudienne (ceebu jen) | Rice cooked in the braising liquid | The ancestor: whole fish and vegetables braised in tomato, then the rice cooked in what they leave behind. The name means rice and fish in Wolof. |
| The Gambia | Benachin | Long-grain rice | Wolof for one pot: meat, rice and vegetables such as aubergine and cabbage cooked together in a single vessel. |
| Nigeria | Jollof rice (party jollof) | Long-grain parboiled rice | A reduced tomato and pepper stew base with thyme, curry powder and bay leaf, cooked until orange-red. The version served at every Nigerian party. |
| Nigeria | Native jollof (iwuk edesi) | Medium-grain rice | No tomato: built on palm oil with locust beans, dried fish, crayfish and scent leaf, so it comes out darker and more savoury. From southeastern Nigeria. |
| Ghana | Ghana jollof rice | Basmati (some cooks use jasmine) | Aromatic rather than fiery, seasoned with curry powder, garlic and ginger. The fragrant rice is the clearest line between Ghanaian and Nigerian jollof. |
| Liberia | Liberian jollof rice | Long-grain parboiled rice | Sweetened with onion and sweet pepper, sharpened with garlic and ginger, and finished with a smokiness Liberian cooks treat as the mark of a pot done properly. |
| Côte d'Ivoire | Ivorian jollof rice | Jasmine rice | The Francophone version: cabbage and carrot cooked in the pot with the rice, seasoned with thyme, ginger, garlic and scotch bonnet. |
Jollof is traced to the rice-growing coast of present-day Senegal and The Gambia, ruled by the Wolof, or Jolof, empire from about 1350 to 1549. European records called the region the Rice Coast, and the dish still carries the empire's name.
Its direct ancestor is thieboudienne (ceebu jen), Senegal's rice cooked in the liquid of a long tomato, fish and vegetable braise. In 2021 UNESCO added ceebu jen to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
From there the method moved east and south along the coast through trade and migration, and each country that took it up gave it a national form: different rice, different spices, a different idea of what the pot should taste like.
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None of today's countries can claim it alone. Jollof comes from the Senegambian coast, in present-day Senegal and The Gambia, and is named after the Wolof or Jolof empire that ruled there from about 1350 to 1549. Senegal's thieboudienne is its direct ancestor.
Mostly the rice and the seasoning. Nigerian jollof uses long-grain parboiled rice in a reduced tomato and pepper base with thyme, curry powder and bay leaf. Ghanaian jollof uses fragrant basmati and leans on curry powder, garlic and ginger, so it is more aromatic and usually less fiery.
It is jollof's Gambian form. Benachin means one pot in Wolof, and it cooks meat, rice and vegetables together in a single pot, which is the method the whole jollof family shares.
A southeastern Nigerian rice dish, called iwuk edesi by the Efik, built on palm oil, locust beans, dried fish and crayfish instead of tomato. It is darker and more savoury than party jollof.
Use the rice your version calls for: long-grain parboiled for Nigerian and Liberian jollof, basmati for Ghanaian, jasmine for Ivorian. Parboiled rice holds its shape through the long cook in the tomato base.
