Celebration in an African home CAN NOT happen without the presence of Jollof rice. I mean,…. come on.., what are we (Africans) supposed to eat? Burgers? lol
Jollof rice is a very common dish prepared in many African countries and each recipe differs depending on the nation. I specifically prepare the Nigerian party jollof rice which I still feel is one of the best recipes out there (not being biased, just stating facts LOL)
Party jollof rice is commonly the most sort after type of rice, because of its very unique taste. Most people feel the unique taste comes from preparation using firewood, but that isn’t always necessarily the case.
For me, it’s impossible to make rice with firewood, since my apartment complex doesn’t necessarily allow one to grill, let alone smoke anything,… but I’m going to give you a recipe that comes close to the wonderful taste of party Jollof without any firewood.
Since I was in the party mood yesterday, I decided to prepare myself this awesome dish to celebrate our independence. I posted a few pictures of my cooking on Snapchat and was completely blown away by the number of people who wanted my recipe.
So to not be stingy to my fellow Africans as well as my brothers and sisters of other races/cultures I decided I would put up a blog post showing you guys step by step on how I prepare this delicious dish.
I’ve been slacking lately on the food posts, but since its fall time, I guess its only right for me to jump back on the food post wagon. So expect to see more recipes in the future (fingers crossed).
PARTY JOLLOF RICE RECIPE | COOK & PREP TIME: ~ 1hour 15min
You will need:
- 4 Tablespoons of Canola oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 4 Fresh tomatoes or 1 14.5oz can of diced (no salt) Hunts tomato (I seriously suggest using this brand If you decide to buy canned)
- 1 6oz can Tomato paste
- 4 Red onions
- 2 Red bell peppers (Tatashe)
- crayfish (optional, but I love to use it)
- 4 Habanero pepper (scotch bonnet) (put as much or as little as you want, depending on how spicy you want your rice)
- 6 cups of long grain parboiled rice
- 2 cups of chicken stock
Spices:
- Maggi or Knorr cubes
- salt
- cayenne pepper and black pepper
- white pepper
- Bay leaves
- curry powder
- garlic or onion powder
- ginger
- thyme leaves
Note: Quantity of spices depends on your preference. Be sure to use your judgment and avoid over adding spices. A recipe card with exact measurement is also listed below.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat about 4 tablespoons of canola oil and butter in a medium sized pot on medium heat and throw in some chopped red onions. Allow the onions to fry until the redness starts to slightly fade off.
- Next, pour in your tomato paste and let it fry with the onions. Make sure to stir the paste consistently to avoid burning. Do this for about 10 mins, or until the paste fully fries in the oil. Add in your crayfish for an extra tasty flavor.
- Blend some tomatoes, onions, habanero peppers, and red bells peppers together until you achieve a smooth consistency.
- Pour in the blended mixture into the pot and fry it together with the tomato paste.
- Add all your spices (BUT DON’T ADD SALT YET) and mix. Cover the pot and allow the tomato to fry in the oil. Add more oil if necessary. You really want to let the tomato fry to remove the slappy sour taste, so make sure you don’t rush this process. I would recommend letting it fry for about 20-30 mins. Be sure to continuously stir the mixture to avoid burning.
- At this point, while the tomato is frying, begin to wash your parboiled rice. Make sure to get rid of as much starch as possible by washing the rice until the water used becomes very clear. This helps to avoid the rice from sticking together when cooking.
- Once the tomato is done frying, add your chicken stock to the mix and taste to see if it requires any salt. Add salt if necessary and mix.
- Now add in your washed rice and mix it together with the fried tomatoes. Turn down the heat to the lowest on your burner and cover the pot. I personally like to cover the pot with aluminum foil before putting on the lid just to make sure the heat stays within the pot without escaping from the lid hole.
- Allow the rice to cook for about 30 minutes.
- After about 30 minutes open the pot and properly combine all the ingredients together. Cover the pot again, and let it cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the rice has fully blended in with the mixture.
TIP: By the way, if you want the smokey taste of most party jollof rice popular in Nigeria, cooking on firewood, or using a stainless steel pot would give that extra flavor as well
SERVE AND ENJOY!!
Let me know in the comments what you guys think of this recipe! And here’s a recipe card you can print of this.
Nigerian Jollof rice recipe
Tasty popular Nigerian party Jollof rice recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 4 fresh tomato or 1 14.5oz canned hunts tomato unsalted
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- 3 large whole red onion
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup blended crayfish
- 4 Habanero peppers (based on how spicy you want)
- 51/2 cups long grain parboiled rice
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tbsp Maggi or knorr cubes
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and black pepper
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 3 single bay leaves
- 1/2 tbsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic/onion powder
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp ginger
Instructions
-
Blend tomatoes, red bell peppers, habanero peppers, large red onion until consistency is smooth and set aside
-
Wash the rice thoroughly to rid off starch and set aside.
-
To a medium sized pot, heat canola oil and butter
-
Throw in chopped onion and allow to fry for about 5 mins or until redness starts to fade
-
Pour in tomato paste and allow to fry for about 10-15 minutes, stirring continuously to avoid burning.
-
Add in your blended mixture, crayfish, Maggi, cayenne & black pepper, white pepper, bay leaves, curry powder, garlic, thyme. Mix and fry for about 30 minutes, continuously stirring to avoid burning.
-
Add chicken stock and salt. Mix and allow cook for an additional 10 mins
-
Add in washed rice, and reduce heat to low.
-
Cover pot with aluminum foil, to avoid heat from escaping through lid
-
Cook rice on low heat for about 30 mins
-
Once cooked, mix thoroughly to combine ingredients
-
Cover and let cook for an additional 10 mins.
-
To get the party Jollof flavor, turn up the heat and let the rice burn for about 3 mins. (Be careful with this step, so you don't burn the whole rice)
Recipe Notes
For spices: Add as much or as little depending on your preference and taste choice.
xo, Eleanor ♥
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Hey There! I’m Eleanor, a 21 year old lover of Jesus Christ and all things of the Kingdom of Heaven. Hope you stick around as I take you on my faith journey through this temporary world.
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I dont even knw wt u mean by red bell and habenaro pepper
Author
That’s what it is called over here where I live. In Nigeria, red bell pepper is called tatashe, while habanero is called scotch bonnet pepper.
Thank u so much. I have tried cooking jallof rice before and failed. But your method was so easy and detailed i suceeded. I am south african and my husban is Nigerian so i really needed to learn to make Jallof rice
Author
You’re welcome. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Sorry but is tomato and tomato paste compulsory in a jollof rice preparation
Author
I personally use tomato and tomato paste. I haven’t done it any differently before.
This blog post is absolutely beautiful!
Author
Thank You so much
Thanks my sis for a detailed explanation of how to make jellof rice.
Nice.
Author
Thank you so much. I’m glad it helped
Tried this today and the recipe was perfect. First time and me and my family loved it
Author
Thank you so much. I’m glad you love it!
This recipe is so easy to follow and it worked, even though I replaced some of your ingredients because I live in Canada. The rice turned out perfect and my roommates loved it!! I also love your energy!!!! Keep it up!!
Author
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I’m an American girl dating a Nigerian boy for a year now. I had never tried jollof rice, but he talks about how great it is all the time so I wanted to try to make it for him. I came across this blog/recipe and followed it as best as I could given the ingredients found locally. When my boyfriend tried it, he could not stop sighing in nostalgia and satisfaction! He said the flavor was just right and the texture was right right! 😌 Pretty impressive I’d say. This is an excellent recipe! Thanks!
Author
awwww I’m glad you like it… Thank you so much.. hahahaha
Thank you for this recipe. Mine turned out with great flavor but is mushy. I have made two other recipes that also turned out mushy so I know it’s me – I just don’t know what I’m doing incorrectly because I follow the recipes exactly. Do you have advice for mushy rice? Thank you.
Author
The type of rice you use is Key as well as the quantity you use as well. I specifically use the long grain parboiled rice- which you can purchase HERE. You also want the quantity of rice you use to just be enough for the tomato sauce as well. I also find that some people tend to precook their rice first before adding it to their sauce. That process usually makes their rice very mushy. So I suggest buying already parboiled rice and washing with water (see recipe procedure) to remove any excess starch before adding it to the sauce. This makes it firm and less mushy. I hope this helps. God bless xo
how much tomato puree did you use? The recipe says one can but that isn’t really specific as different cans have different amounts.
Author
I use a 6oz can of tomato paste. Sorry for any confusion. much love, xo
Wow I loved the recipe so I will make it tonight for dinner with roast chicken. 😋😋😋
Author
I’m glad you enjoyed it.. God bless xx
How do I make Meat to go with this? Some goat meat or chicken?
Looks delish! How did you make the meat look so yummy? Did you mix it in a different stew? Thank you. x
Author
Yes, I mixed the meat in a different stew. xo
Thanks for the jollof rice recipes. I follow your step to cook for my family last night.. It was superb.. Everybody enjoy the dinner.. God bless you
Author
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. God bless xo
I can’t wait to try my hand at this! What size can of diced tomatoes do you recommend. Also, I want to make this with beef meat like my mum does. Do you have any recommendations on how to cook the beef with the rice at the same time? God bless@
I can’t wait to try my hand at this next week! What size can of diced tomatoes do you recommend? Also, I want to make beef meat with the jollof rice like my mum does. Do you have any recommendations on how I cook the beef in the rice at the same time? God bless!
Author
I use the 14.5oz can of Hunts diced tomatoes. I would be uploading a recipe soon for the beef. xoxo