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    Rice · Recipe · Nigeria · Reference page

    Jollof rice with chicken

    Rice cooked in a fried paste of tomato, red pepper and onion with curry powder and thyme, served with fried chicken and plantain. This Nigerian version by Funmi Komolafe, published by SBS Food, serves six.

    Fine-ink and watercolour illustration of jollof rice on white.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    6
    Preparation
    20 min
    Cooking
    1 h 20
    Total
    1 h 40
    Difficulty
    Easy

    Equipment

    • Large saucepan with a lid
    • Blender
    • Oven tray and foil
    Servings6

    Ingredients

    • Chicken

    • Sauce

    • Rice

    • To serve

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Put the chicken in a pan with the 750 ml water, half the onions, 1 tsp each of curry powder and thyme, the stock cube and the salt. Simmer about 10 minutes, until nearly cooked. Drain, keeping the liquid, and pat the chicken dry.

      Why Poaching seasons the chicken and makes the stock in which the rice will cook.

      Timer · 10 min10:00

    2. Blend the red pepper, tomatoes and the rest of the onions to a paste.

    3. Heat 5 cm of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Fry the chicken about 3 minutes until golden and cooked through. Lift it out and pour off all but 1 cm of the oil.

      Timer · 3 min3:00

    4. Cook the blended paste in the oil with the remaining curry powder and thyme for about 10 minutes, stirring, until golden. Add the tomato paste and cook 5 minutes more, until the oil separates.

      Why Frying the paste until the oil separates removes its raw taste; this is what gives jollof its deep colour and flavour.

      Timer · 15 min15:00

    5. Return the chicken to the sauce for about 3 minutes to coat it. Move it to an oven tray and cover with foil; leave the sauce in the pan.

      Timer · 3 min3:00

    6. Add the rice, the reserved poaching liquid and the 1 litre of water to the sauce. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring halfway, until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed.

      Timer · 45 min45:00

    7. About halfway through, warm the chicken in a low oven for about 20 minutes. Serve it with the rice and fried plantain.

      Why The source gives no oven temperature, only a warm oven to reheat the chicken.

      Timer · 20 min20:00

    Substitutions

    • Drumsticks and drummettes → The source notes that Nigerian cooks often use boiler chickens, which have more flavour and hold together when fried.
    • Basmati → Long-grain or parboiled long-grain rice; cooking time and water may change.

    Common mistakes

    • Adding the rice before the paste is fried down: the jollof tastes raw and sharp.
    • Stirring often while the rice cooks: it breaks and turns sticky. Stir once, halfway.

    Storage & reheating

    Keeps 2 days in the fridge; reheat until piping hot.

    Safety

    Deep-frying: never fill the pan more than a third and keep children away. Stock cubes can contain celery and gluten: check the label.

    Allergens

    Celery

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    dairy-free

    A Nigerian home version

    Funmi Komolafe's recipe, first printed in Feast magazine and published online by SBS Food, is tagged Nigerian. She notes that boiler chickens are the traditional choice because they have more flavour and hold together when fried, and uses drumsticks for convenience. The dish is served with fried plantain.

    The atlas has not yet opened a documented history of the dish's origin and makes no claim about it.

    [1]

    Frying the base

    Everything depends on the base. Tomato, red pepper and onion are blended, then fried in the oil left from the chicken for about 10 minutes with curry powder and thyme, until golden. Tomato paste follows and cooks 5 minutes more, until the oil separates.

    The rice then cooks in this sauce with the poaching liquid and water, covered, on low heat for about 45 minutes. Stirring only once, halfway, keeps the grains whole.

    [1]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Nigeria In preparation

    Rice

    Recipe

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    Sources

    1. Jollof rice with chicken — SBS Food (Funmi Komolafe; first published in Feast magazine, issue 15, p. 69), 2015 verified

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