Description
Long-grain rice cooked in a thick stew of tomato, pepper and onion until every grain is coated. Let the bottom catch a little and it tastes like party jollof.
1 hr 15 min · Serves 6 · Medium
What’s in the kit
- 3 × Tilda Pure Basmati Rice
- 2 × Gino Pepper & Onion Tomato Seasoning Mix
- 1 × Jumbo Chicken Stock Cubes
The Family size has twice as much of everything, so it feeds twice as many.
You’ll also need
- 3 cups long-grain parboiled rice, rinsed
- 1 tin (400 g) plum tomatoes
- 2 red bell peppers and 1–2 scotch bonnets
- 2 onions (one blended, one sliced)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp dried thyme, 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups chicken stock
- Salt to taste
Method
- Blend the tomatoes, bell peppers, scotch bonnets and one onion until smooth. Boil the blend in a pot until it has reduced by about half.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pot and soften the sliced onion. Stir in the tomato paste and fry for 5 minutes until it darkens and the raw taste goes.
- Add the reduced pepper blend, the crumbled stock cubes, curry powder, thyme and bay leaves. Fry for 10–15 minutes, stirring, until the oil rises to the top.
- Stir in the rinsed rice so every grain is coated, then add the stock to just level with the rice. Season with salt.
- Cover tightly (foil under the lid helps) and cook on low heat for 30–35 minutes without stirring, until the rice is tender. Add a splash of water only if it dries before it is cooked.
- Turn off the heat and leave covered for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and serve with fried plantain and chicken.
Cook’s tip: For the smoky "party" flavour, turn the heat up for the last 3–4 minutes and let the bottom scorch slightly without stirring.
Photo: DromoTetteh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.