Jollof Rice

Make Ahead and Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days and freeze 3 months. Reheat covered with a splash of stock.

Jollof Rice: The Method

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1. Blend the tomatoes, red peppers, one onion and the scotch bonnets to a smooth purée.

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2. Pour the purée into a wide pan and boil hard, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes until it has reduced by nearly half and thickened considerably. This step is essential.

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3. Heat the oil in a heavy pot and fry the sliced onion for 8 minutes until soft and golden.

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4. Add the tomato purée and fry 4 minutes until it darkens to a deep brick red.

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5. Add the reduced pepper base and fry for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the oil pools clearly at the edges and the base is thick and jammy.

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6. Stir in the curry powder, thyme, ginger, paprika, salt, white pepper and bay leaves and cook 2 minutes.

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7. Add the rinsed rice and stir until every grain is coated in the base.

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8. Pour in the hot stock, stir once, then cover with foil and a tight lid and cook on the lowest heat for 25 minutes without lifting the lid.

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9. Uncover, dot with the butter, then raise the heat to medium for 3 to 4 minutes so the bottom layer catches and smokes lightly.

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10. Take off the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes, then fold the smoky bottom layer up through the rice and serve.

    Mark done Start 10 min timer

Related guide: Choosing rice.

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Worth Knowing

• Reduce the pepper base properly. Watery base makes soggy jollof, and there is no recovering from it.
• Parboiled long-grain rice holds its shape through the long cook; basmati collapses.
• The bottom crust is not a mistake. Deliberately letting it catch for a few minutes is what gives party jollof its flavour.

Serving Ideas

Fried plantain (dodo) and coleslaw · Grilled or fried chicken · A cold Star or Gulder

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried thyme at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

What's in a Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: an ingredient listed without an amount is not counted, so the figures run low. How the figures are worked out.