Affordable Jollof Rice Recipe for Students

Party Jollof Rice‘?

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and one of the 7 fun ways to spend thanksgiving is ‘cooking’; of course, the main part of thanksgiving is FOOD.

#1 Parboiled rice – 1 cup

It actually says ‘Parboiled’ on the bag. This cost more than the non-parboiled rice, but it works best with jollof rice. However, if the other kind is what you can afford, it’s perfect. There are minor changes in the cooking steps, which I noted.

#2 Onions or Onion powder – 1 small bulb or 1 table spoon

#3 Fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes paste (aka tin-tomatoe) – 4 small pieces or 1 small tin

#4 Fresh Pepper (Habanero or Jalepeno) or Crushed/powdered red pepper – 1 small piece or 1 teaspoon or whatever you like (I LOVE SPICY).

#5 Fresh Garlic or powdered garlic – 1 clove or 1 table spoon

#6 Fresh ginger or powdered ginger –  1 table spoon of minced ginger or powdered ginger

#7 Chicken/beef broth – 3/4 to 1.5 cups (depending on the kind of rice)

#8 Vegetable oil (any brand) – 7 tablespoons

#9 Any kind of meat or egg – 0.5 lb or 1

#10 Bouillon cube (aka maggi/knor) – 1 cube

#11 Curry – 1 teaspoon 

#12 Thyme – 1 teaspoon 

#13 Salt – to taste

Absolutely Optional:

a) Dried parsley leaves – 0.5 teaspoon

b) Rosemary (my secret weapon) – 0.5 teaspoon

c) Nutmeg – a pinch

d) Crayfish – 1 teaspoon

If you notice, for each of the fresh ingredients, I put a dry/tin version. As you would imagine, the canned or dried products are cheaper. But, the secret to a cheap, delicious meal is a nice blend of canned/dried and fresh ingredients. I will describe the recipe in three ways: Cheap (mostly fresh), Cheaper (Fresh and Dry), Cheapest (Mostly Dry)

Cheap

Step 1

: Wash tomatoes, pepper, onions, ginger, and garlic, and blend. If you don’t have a blender, chop with a knife. Some people, can’t stand chopped ginger. If you don’t have a blender, fresh ginger and garlic are very optional. If you blend, you will have to dry, using a stove or electric skillet, until it is a thick paste. If you chopped, go to step 2.

Step 6

: Heat oil for 2-4 minutes,

 until oil sizzles around onion. One way to test this, is by throwing a piece of onion into the pot. 

Please, don’t make it too hot.

Step 8

: Stir tomatoes sauce for about 10 minutes. drain out excess oil, if you like. Add the meat broth/stock. If you have a lot of broth, you can add a little bit and keep the rest for later.

Step 9

: Scoop out half of the sauce. This serves two purposes: helps with mixing with the rice, and helps you control the ingredients in your final product.

Step 11

: Mix it DARLING!

Party Jollof

‘ flavor, let it BURN! If you cooked one cup it should take about 15-20 minutes. This depends heavily on what kind of rice you used. In the event that the liquid dries and the rice is still hard, add a little more water/broth. If you notice that the rice is soft, and there’s still too much water, use a spoon and take out excess water from the surface. If this is your first time, things might not go smoothly. However, there’s nothing to worry about. The more you do it, the better you will get at it. 

Cheapest (Mostly Dry/Canned)

Rice, canned tomatoes, powdered onions, powdered pepper, salt, other spices, oil, water, and egg

. The additional difference here is water replaces broth and there’s no fresh ingredient. This saves the most money and time, but might not taste as well. Don’t worry! The trick is to add more spices, salt, and, pepper. Taste! Taste! Taste!

Method

Skip steps 1, 2, 3

Do step 4

For steps 5, 6 and 7, there are no sliced onions. Just heat the oil, add the canned tomatoes paste, and add all your powdered spices (onion, curry, thyme, etc.), bouillon cube, and don’t add the salt yet.

Do steps 8, 9, 10, 11 (add water, where you would add broth. Add a little at a time, to prevent dilution…taste, taste, taste).

Boil your egg last.

I hope it’s easy to follow.

Please drop your comments, questions, and suggestions.

If you try this, let me know.

Extra tip; Eat with a movie starring Osuofia (Nkem Owoh), and get the full Nigerian experience

Lots of love

WDG