Jollof Rice
Overview
Jollof rice is the best-known dish in West Africa and the one most argued over. Rice is cooked in a base of blended tomato, red pepper, onion and chilli until it takes the colour and flavour all the way through, not rice with sauce on it, but rice that has become the sauce. Its origins are traced to the Senegambian region and the Wolof, or Jolof, Empire, which from the fourteenth century covered parts of present-day Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania, and where rice was grown. The ancestor dish is thiéboudienne, the Senegalese one-pot of rice, fish and vegetables. The name jollof carries the empire's own name with it. From there it spread and diverged. Nigerian jollof leans on long-grain rice and a heavily reduced pepper base, often with a deliberate smokiness from the bottom of the pot. Ghanaian jollof commonly uses aromatic rice and a different spice balance. Senegalese thieboudienne remains its own dish. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameroon, Togo and the Gambia all have versions. The rivalry between the Nigerian and Ghanaian claims is genuine, loud and largely affectionate, and it has done more to carry the dish internationally than any amount of promotion. Whatever the version, it is not a side dish. Jollof is the centre of the table.
AFN Heritage Note
Jollof rice is traced to the Senegambian region governed by the Wolof (Jolof) Empire from the fourteenth century, an area where rice was cultivated, and descends from thiéboudienne, the Senegalese dish of rice, fish and vegetables. The dish's name preserves the empire's.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Pour the chicken or meat stock and the tomato stew into a sizeable pot and leave to boil
- 2
Add the parboiled rice, curry powder, salt, and pepper to taste and make sure your water level should be at the same time level of the rice so that all the water dries up at the same time the rice is cooked.
- 3
Cover the pot and leave to cook on low medium heat so the rice won’t burn before the water dries up
- 4
Taste to Confirm
- 5
Serve with Salad or Fried Plaintain
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Beatrice Ige- Reduce the pepper base hard before the rice goes in. Watery base gives watery jollof, and no amount of later cooking fixes it.
- Use less liquid than you would for plain rice. The base is already wet and the rice will absorb it.
- Do not stir once the rice is in. Stirring breaks the grains and turns it to porridge, cover and let the steam work.
- Foil or banana leaf under the lid traps steam and helps the grains cook evenly.
- The smoky note comes from letting the bottom catch very slightly at the end. Deliberate, brief, and easy to overdo.
Reviews
5 reviews
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As a Ghanaian I was skeptical trying this Nigerian version oo, but my usual jasmine rice ran out so I bought long grain parboiled rice from the African shop here in Columbus. Herh, keeping the stock and tomato stew level with the rice actually saved it from getting soggy. Still think Ghana jollof is better chale, but the thyme and curry powder blend was quite nice.
Popped down to the international supermarket in Cardiff to get the proper parboiled long grain rice for this. I was a bit worried about getting the liquid level exactly level with the rice as instructed, but it steamed perfectly on low heat without catching at the bottom. Served with fried plantains on the side, marvellous flavour from the stock and curry powder.
Got some halal chicken stock from the Somali market here in Minneapolis to mix with the tomato stew base. simmered it on low medium heat just like you said so the liquid dried up right as the grains softened. the thyme and curry powder gave the whole apartment such a wonderful smell o.
bought my parboiled rice down Rye Lane in Peckham yesterday to try this. good recipe sha, but I had to add two extra stock cubes and more pepper because my pot needed a bit more kick. keeping the heat low medium so the water dries at the same time as the rice cooked was spot on though.
that step where you keep the water level same height as the rice is the absolute secret abeg. if you pour too much chicken stock the whole thing will just turn to soggy pottage sha. made this today and it sweet well well, especially with dodo on the side.