1 Chicken -- (or more)
6 Medium onions -- chopped
6 Green bell peppers -- chopped
½ lb Shrimp -- (more or less)
¾ c Carrots -- chopped
¾ c Stringbeans -- broken into pieces
¾ c Peas
6 Tomatoes -- chopped
1 t Salt
½ ts Fresh ground pepper
1 Sprig of thyme -- crushed, or one tsp of dried thyme
4 c Rice -- (more or less)
¼ c Tomato paste -- (or more)
Oil -- for frying
1½ ts Cayenne pepper
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 success with 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.
Serves 8.
country : Benin
course : poultry dish
source : Brenda Brown Starling [IRE_tag]