This has been a long time coming, but I've literally been too lazy in getting this out here, but it's finally here now.As a student, I didn't have a blender the whole of first year and for most of second year so I had to get super creative and one of the ways was in making Jollof rice. As you may know, you usually need a blender for making Jollof rice, but the truth is that you can actually make it without one and taste wise there is little difference. Does it taste much better with a blender? Of course it does, but when you just don't have one, this recipe is a fast and alternative way to enjoying the food you love.
Cooking time: 1hr
Feeds: 4 people (average)
INGREDIENTS
A cup of Rice
1 Onion
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 small spicy pepper (Ata Rodo for my Nigerians)
1 tablespoon of Tomato puree
1 tablespoon of oil
Seasoning-(MAGGI, Parsley, dried pepper, jumbo all purpose seasoning, all purpose seasoning, a little curry powder, Jellof seasoning and a dash of salt)
** I haven't really put measurements for the seasoning as I'm the type of cook that likes to play it by taste but a half a tablespoon of everything should be fine but always taste to make sure it's to your liking.
RECIPE
1. Put the rice to boil, you only want to parboil the rice, not fully cook it, so make sure you don't cook it until it's completely soft, take it off the fire once its almost cooked but still resistant to your bite.Sieve out the remaining water if there is any and wash the rice with cold water then leave to the side.
2. Next, in a different pot, put the oil in the pan, and once heated, fry the chopped onions and chopped spicy small pepper. (this is really spicy so be sure you can handle it befoe you mess with it) You can also fry this along with some chopped fresh tomatoes.
3. After 2 minutes, open the can of chopped tomatoes and pour into the pot. Use the wooden spoon to break the bits up into as small pieces as possible and allow to start cooking.
After about 10-15 minutes, start adding your seasoning, it doesn't really matter what order you add them in, but make sure you taste it regularly to make sure it's not too salty or too spicy etc.
4, Leave to continue cooking for about 10 minutes, then pour in the rice. Stir in the rice, adding tomato puree if the consistency is too watery. The tomato puree may not be needed. The rice should not completely fill up the tomato sauce as this will leave you with light orange rather than bright orange rice and the tomato should not be too much otherwise the finished product will be too soggy. Consistency is essential with this method.
**You can use any type of rice you wish but from experience (and I have had a lot of failed attempts believe me, long grain rice usually works best with this method.) You can of course use basmati also but there is risk of the rice becoming mushy if cooked for too long. (Under no circumstances must you use cheap 40p rice from morrisons/asda, it will be the worst mistake of your life)
Hope you guys enjoyed the recipe, Let me know how it turns out for you. Remember to comment below, subscribe to the channel and share!
Until next time,
Blessing. xx
