The rapper Wale posted a picture of a rice dish that all his followers were raving over. It reminded me of a few days ago when Melanie Fiona posted a picture of her mom's Bake and Salt fish she was enjoying in Toronto and how that picture almost had me tasting the food LOL.
So in search if the same familiarity Wale's West African Instagram followers had I decided that Jallof or Jollof rice would be my next experiment.
sidebar - isn't that a sexy sight? ;)
So about the rice, apparently its a traditional dish in most of West Africa. It's usual components include tomatoes, onions, broth and a variety of spices that can be any variety of ginger, curry, cumin, cayenne, chili, and nutmeg.
I didn't have a recipe, just took a shot in the dark with the research I did. If you follow my lead you should know that I'm impatient with my rice and keep opening the pot to see how the flavor is.
I started by sauteing onions in olive oil
then added cumin, cayenne and ginger
once onions were cooked (on low) I added tomato paste
I used 1 cup of Jasmine rice, making sure the rice was coated with the tomato mixture
I then added chicken broth and brought it all to a boil
I added a bay leaf, salt and white pepper to taste, then covered and lowered to low/medium for 25 minutes.
It took me longer because I wouldn't leave it alone, so I ended up adding more stock and lowering the temp.
another sidebar - does your supermarket sell crab legs already shelled like this, just amazing!
Like any other traditional dish there are numerous variations, I will definitely add shrimp or chicken next time and some type of peas or beans. This is the type of rice with such a good flavor it can be a one pot meal. I'm actually eating my left overs with fried plantain and salad, no meat.
I'll definitely look out for what Wale's cooking next, and maybe I'll check out some other popular African dishes. The aroma of this rice was so good, Full, Nap time.
Hope you enjoyed, Love U for reading!!
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