A discussion ensued on Instagram a couple months back about how oven baked jollof rice tastes better than regular cooked jollof rice. Personally I think Jollof rice cooked on firewood tastes better but in a world where firewood is not present and the fumes of the firewood are harmful to our health, oven jollof rice does not sound so bad after all. My friend Temmy on Instagram kept reminding me about this recipe and for some reason I never got around to making Jollof rice. At long last Temmy, I have fulfilled your wish. In all honesty, the method is not that different. The basics of jollof rice are the same no matter what you do. This recipe is a smaller portion and feeds 2-3 depending on the portions you serve. For my foreign friends that wonder what the most popular foods are in Nigeria or West Africa generally, Jollof Rice is certainly one of them. Hope you enjoy it if you make it.
Recipe for Oven Baked Jollof Rice
Ingredients
1 cup of Rice (Parboiled)
2 cooking spoons of blended tomato and pepper
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1/3 cup of stock juice
2 cups of Water
1 cooking spoon of oil
1/2 bulb of medium onion (chopped)
1 clove of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of curry
1/2 teaspoon of dry pepper
Pinch of thyme
Seasoning cubes
Salt to taste
Handful of chopped vegetables
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
Heat up your oil and pour in the chopped onion and garlic. Fry till the onion and garlic for about 1 minute.
Scoop your tomato paste and stir into the frying onion at this point. Let it fry for another 2 minutes.
Pour in your blended tomato and seasonings and stir in. Fry this on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
Pour in your rice into the pot and stir till all the tomato sauce and rice are combined. Your pot should be dryish at this point.
Take it off the stove and in a small foil pan or baking pan, pour in your rice mix and smoothen it out in the pan. Pour in your stock juice and water. Stir in the baking pan and place in the oven for about 35 minutes.
Take it out and stir in your chopped vegetables and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Take out and serve with chicken, beef, fish or any protein of your choice.
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