This Nigerian Jollof Rice Recipe is your last bus-stop to making that perfect jollof rice that is flavorful, has that smoky taste and is enjoyed by all both at home and parties.
I come from a home where we pride ourselves at making the best party jollof rice. Growing up, my sister and I will compete on who can make jollof rice better and now that I am grown and have my own family, I look back to those times and I’m grateful for that experience as it has helped me build and improve on this delicious jollof rice recipe that I’m about to share with you.
What makes Jollof Rice Special?
You will hardly find a Nigerian party without finding jollof rice. I mean, what’s a Nigerian party without jollof rice. Boring right…I know!
- Jollof rice is synonymous with celebrations like birthdays, weddings, naming ceremony, burial or even a casual get-together.
- It is part of a West Africa rivalry (especially between Nigeria and Ghana) and we Nigerians take pride in our version being the best because it is smoky, spicy and rich in flavor.
- Jollof rice is the heart of the menu. No matter how fancy or lavish a party menu is, guest judge the food by the jollof rice. If the jollof rice is bad, the whole party is a flop in Nigerian eyes…lol. It brings people together. You’ll always hear things like “Have you tried the jollof?” or “I’m here for the party rice”.
Jollof Rice Ingredients
- 5 cups of Rice – For this tutorial, I’ll be using Basmati Rice, but any rice is ok to use.
- Tomatoes – This should be 20% of the tomatoes and pepper mix.
- Tatashe (red bell peppers) – This is usually long and slim with a mildly sweet taste compared to the regular bell peppers which is round and blocky with a very sweet taste used in making fried rice. They are not the same so don’t mix it up. The tatashe should make up 40% of the tomatoes and pepper mix. This is the main ingredient that will form the base.
- Oshombo (red chilli pepper) – This should make up about 10% of the tomatoes and pepper mix.
- Habanero pepper – This quantity depends on your level of tolerance. If you want your jollof rice spicy, please add more peppers. I love it spicy but my kids don’t so because they will be having this for Sunday lunch I’ll have to tone this down.
- Tomatoe paste
- Onions – Be generous with this as it makes the food sweet. The more the onions, the sweeter the jollof rice.
- Garlic
- Bay leaves
- Unsalted butter
- Dried thyme
- Curry powder
- Goat meat stock (most preferred for jollof rice)
- Knorr seasoning cubes
- Vegetable or Olive oil
- Ginger – This is optional
- salt to taste
Ingredients Preparation
Rice – Wash your rice until clear and set this aside to drain.
Chop onions into tiny size.
Blend your garlic and ginger.
Pepper mix
– Wash your Tatashe, Oshombo, Tomatoes, habanero peppers, and onions.
– Remove all the seeds from your Tatashe and Oshombo. This is done to avoid having a bitter taste in your jollof rice.
Chop the onions and tomatoes into large chunks.
Pepper mix preparation
– In a clean dried pot, add a little quantity of vegetable or olive oil.
– Add your already washed and prepared pepper mix ingredients in the right ratio as I’ve stated above.
– Give it a good mix the add the bay leaves, add thyme and be very generous with it.
– Add your garlic and ginger. The ginger is optional.
– Then go in with your curry powder and mix well to combine
– Add your bouillon cubes. In this recipe, I used 2 Knorr chicken seasoning. Then mix well.
– Cover your pot and cook on low heat until all the liquid in the pot reduces and gets separated from the ingredients.
This method of preparing your pepper mix is good for flavoring and a good jollof rice depends heavily on building good flavor.
– After boiling the pepper mixture, remove the bayleaf before blending. Blend till you get a smooth and silky paste.
Note: Before blending, please let it cool down. This is because some blenders cannot withstand very hot mixtures and also, it can splatter all over when blending. So to avoid any accident of hot splatter on your face and body, avoid blending it hot.
Recommended Cookware for Jollof Rice
For the rice, you can use a stainless steel cookware which is what I’m using for this tutorial. It is very ideal for cooking jollof rice but you can also use Cast Iron, Iron cookware or clay cookware.
One cookware you should avoid using is the non-stick cookware. This is because they are designed to prevent burning so you won’t get that flavorful “bottom pot” or “party rice” aroma that people crave.
How to prepare the Jollof Rice
Step 1 – In a heated pot, go in with Olive oil or your vegetable oil.
Step 2 – Sautee your onions and do this for 5 to 10 minutes until transluscent.
Step 3 – Add in your garlic and ginger (optional)
Step 4 – Add in the bay leaf and dried thyme.
Step 5 – Go in with your tomatoe paste. Cook until it starts to look like a proper tomatoes stew. Please take your time to achieve this.
Step 6 – Add in the curry powder and allow it to cook on low heat.
Step 7 – Once ready, add the pepper mixture that you have prepared earlier.
This will make a very RICH base and there is no way you’ll cook your jollof rice with this base that it won’t bang!
Step 8 – Add your washed Rice.
Do not add any further seasoning yet because the base and the meat stock you’ll be adding already has been seasoned.
Step 9 – Pour in your meat stock and taste it to determine if you’ll be needing further seasoning. Mix the rice and combine well to mix with the base.
For the meat stock, goat meat stock is preferred because it has a very deep flavor when used for jollof rice. But whatever you have available is OK, and can serve as well.
Now, add some water that will be at the level of the rice and make sure to stir to mix well. Taste for salt at this point and add some if needed.
To cook your smoky jollof rice, use a foil to cover the pot before going in with the pot cover. This is done to trap in the steam that will cook the rice till it is done.
After covering the pot, please cook your rice on very low heat. If you have the simmer function on your stove top, that will be the best to use for this recipe.
If you are using Basmati rice, set your timer to 45 minutes to 1 hour as this is how long it will need to cook properly. If you are using any other type of rice, it will need more time to cook.
After your rice is well cooked, please turn it properly to help the rice mix well.
Smoking the Jollof Rice
This is my favorite part of making this recipe because this is what makes my jollof rice stand out from other home cooked jollof rice. This process is what gives it that party jollof rice flavor that was cooked with fire wood in open space.
To smoke your jollof rice, after turning to combine well, make two to three holes in the rice all the way down to the bottom of the pot.
Then cut some unsalted butter and drop into these holes that you have created in your pot. You will notice that it will start smoking even before you increase the heat.
Please not that this will trigger your smoke detector, so you want to be mindful of this and tackle it before the emergency unit comes for you…lol.
After dropping the butter, cover your pot and increase the heat higher that what was initially used to cook the jollof rice and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Let it smoke very well.
Next thing to do is to open your pot and mix it well so that the liquid butter circulates properly. Then cover and let it cook for yet another 5 minutes. Yea…I know, so much cooking. These extra step is what will make your jollof rice stand out and make your guest coming back for more.
It’s very OK for the jollof rice to burnnnn. It must burn so don’t panic…lol.
After cooking, you can cover your pot and allow it for sometime before serving. This step is good to seal in all that flavorful goodness if you are not in a hurry to eat.
By the time you come back to serve and eat, you will notice that the smokiness of the rice will be very intense just like the authentic fire wood cooked party jollof rice.
Once your rice is very smoky, it just elevates the entire taste even if you didn’t use enough seasoning or salt. As far as the rice is smoky, it will turn out very well.
