JOLLOF RICE

JOLLOF RICE

Two cups long grain rice.
Two cups chicken stock.
One small onion, chopped.
One can of tomatoes (more or less two cups).
One or two Scotch Bonnet chilies.
Four TBS tomato paste.
A bouillon cube.
One Tsp. dried shrimp powder.
One Tsp. salt.
Very generous pinches dried thyme and curry powder.
Small pinches nutmeg and dried ginger.
Small pinch cinnamon powder (optional).
A little minced fresh ginger (optional).


Lightly parboil the rice. Drain, rinse under cold water, set aside.
Empty the can of tomatoes into the blender, dump in the scotch bonnets, and whir smooth.

Add plenty of oil to a deep pot, saute the onion till translucent and beyond. Add the tomato and pepper puree, plus fresh ginger if using, stir to incorporate, and cook for about five minutes. Put in the tomato paste, crumble the bouillon cube into the pot, stir, and add the shrimp powder, salt, and pinched spices. Cook for another several minutes.
When the oil starts rising to the top, take nearly half of the resultant goo out of the pot and set it aside, but leave the onion fragments in. Add the stock to the pot, simmer a bit. Mix in the parboiled rice, and add water as needed so that there is liquid on top.
Put it on a low flame (use a heat-protector), and let the rice absorb the moisture for about fifteen minutes. When it's dry on top, mix in the reserved goo, and let it cook about five minutes longer.
It is done.


The reason why you remove some tomato stew when adding the rice is to decrease the chances of scorching and burning, and to allow a certain texture to develop in the grains.

Fried peanuts and hardboiled egg can be used to garnish if you find that necessary, but it's fine the way it is.


Originally posted here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2014/11/jollof-rice.html.