Jollof rice (west african paella)
8 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| Bracey grwp92a | ||
| 1 | Chicken; (or more) | |
| 6 | Medium onions; chopped | |
| 6 | Green bell peppers; chopped | |
| ½ | pounds | Shrimp; (more or less) |
| ¾ | cup | Carrots; chopped |
| ¾ | cup | Stringbeans; broken into pie |
| ¾ | cup | Peas |
| 6 | Tomatoes; chopped | |
| 1 | teaspoon | Salt |
| ½ | teaspoon | Fresh ground pepper |
| 1 | Thyme; crushed | |
| Or | ||
| 1 | teaspoon | Dried thyme |
| 4 | cups | Rice; (more or less) |
| ¼ | cup | Tomato paste; (or more) |
| Oil; for frying | ||
| 1½ | teaspoon | Cayenne pepper |
Directions
You can put in as many kinds of meat or vegetables as you like or can afford into this dish. Shrimp makes an extravagant but wonderful addition. Use a heavy pot or a large cast iron skillet to discourage burning. Stirring often is the key to successwith this dish. Use a large wooden spoon. Cover the pot tightly.
Skin, debone and chop the chicken into 1 inch square pieces. In a heavey pot, large enough to hold everything, brown the chicken in oil. Add onions and peppers. Cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, saute the shrimp in a small amount of oil and precook the carrots, beans, and peas (or other vegetables of your choice) until they are about half done ( 5 minutes or so).
Drain the vegetables and add to the chicken pot along with the shrimp, tomatoes, salt, pepper and thyme. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Combine rice with tomato paste, which should coat the rice grains without drowning them. (In the finished dish, the rice should be tinted orange, too much tomato paste will make it red.) Stir the coated rice to the pot and continue to simmer, adding water sparingly, as needed, to avoid burning. When the meat, rice and vegetables are tender, the Jollof Rice is ready to serve.