Benachin
Benachin is the Gambian one pot rice, and the name is the plainest description of the method anyone has managed: in Wolof it means one pot. Rice, meat and vegetables go into a single vessel and come out as a single dish, which is both a technique and an argument about how food should be shared. It belongs to the Senegambian rice tradition that gave West Africa jollof, and Gambians are direct about the relationship. Benachin is not a version of jollof rice; jollof rice is what happened to the Senegambian rice pot as it travelled east. The Gambian and Senegalese coast is where that tradition sits, and thieboudienne is its closest relative. What distinguishes benachin from the tomato rice dishes further along the coast is the vegetables. Cabbage, aubergine, carrot and bell pepper are cooked in the same pot as the meat, lifted out while the rice takes up the liquid they flavoured, and returned on top at the table. The dish arrives layered rather than mixed, and it is served from the centre for everyone at the table to eat from.
The Gambia50 minAmara