I welcome you all to another edition of Hive Learners creative Sunday, happy Sunday to you all and I wish us all a prosperous and productive week. Today I would be showing us how to prepare that smoky party jollof rice at home.
Jollof rice is one of those dishes that can light up any gathering. When cooked well, it carries that irresistible smoky flavor that people usually describe as the “party taste.” Many people wonder how to achieve it, but I discovered a simple way in my kitchen that gave me the exact result I wanted. Let me share with you how I prepared my smoky party jollof rice step by step.
INGREDIENTS USED
Vegetable oil
Pepper
Tomatoes
Bell pepper
Onions
Tomato paste
Garlic
Ginger
Seasoning cubes
💓STEP 1
I began with my frying pan. Inside it, I placed fresh pepper, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, bay leaf, ginger, a little vegetable oil, and garlic. I allowed the mixture to fry for some minutes. While frying, part of it got slightly burnt, and that was exactly the magic I needed. That burnt edge gave me the smoky flavor that makes party jollof unique. then I proceeded by blending the mixture into paste
💓STEP 2
In my cooking pot I added my vegetable oil and added the sliced onions, I allowed the onion to releases it juice in the oil then I fried the tomatoes paste, I allowed it to fry until the oil float on top of the paste that is when it is properly fried, I proceeded by adding the pepper mixture that I blended and fried it as well, I added my ingredients, the seasoning, jollof rice seasoning, salt to taste and fried so well
💓STEP 3
As it fried, I added my ingredients, seasoning cubes, jollof rice seasoning, and salt to taste. Onegod thing I love to do is to season my sauce very well and fry thoroughly so the flavor would come together nicely. After frying, I scooped out some of the sauce and kept it aside, that sauce would later be used after the rice had cooked, just to give it that final taste and flavor, some people would always add butter to it for that shinny look.
💓STEP 4
Next, I washed my rice, when cooking jollof rice it is not necessary for you to parboil it, I washed the rice with salt in other to get rid of excess starch in it, I washed more than five till the water remains clean without any form of starch in it and drained it in a strainer. Once drained, I poured the rice into the pot that still had the sauce and stirred it thoroughly before adding water, I love to use my wooden stick to do this, After stirring, I added water, making sure it was just enough to cook the rice without making it too soft. Jollof rice does not need too much water, so it is better to add gradually if needed.
💓STEP 5
I covered the pot and I allowed it to cook on low heat, jollof rice doesn't require much heat at all, it help absorb the sauce properly and it will not allow it to burn easily, some people love to cover the pot with foil paper so that no heat would escape but here I only cover it without anything.
💓STEP 6
When the rice cooked, I took the reserved sauce and poured it over the rice. I mixed it thoroughly so that every grain was coated with that rich, smoky sauce. After mixing, I added some sliced onions on top, covered the pot again, and allowed it to steam for a few more minutes.
💓By the time I opened the pot, the rice looked and smelled exactly like party jollof. The smoky flavor came through beautifully, and the grains were not soggy but firm and well coated. The extra sauce added at the end made it richer and more colorful.
Thank you for taking your time to watch the video, i hope the video is helpful
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