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Jollof Rice with Chicken
Serves 6 Prep 25 min Cook 1 hr 15 min Total 1 hr 40 min Type Meal Origin Nigerian

Jollof Rice with Chicken

West Africa's most-argued-over party rice: long-grain cooked in a deep red tomato-and-scotch-bonnet base, with crisp-skinned chicken.

Serves 6 Prep 25 minutes Cook 1 ¼ hours Units Rate

Overview

Chicken pieces simmer with onion, thyme, curry powder, salt and bay until tender; the cooking stock becomes the rice's liquid. A blender purées tomatoes, red peppers, scotch bonnets, onion, and ginger to a smooth red sauce. Vegetable oil cooks tomato paste until it darkens; the blended sauce reduces in for 15-20 minutes; bay leaves and curry powder bloom; the rice goes in with chicken stock, simmers covered until tender. The chicken roasts crispy under a hot grill, then perches on top.*

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 1.4 kg chicken pieces (drumsticks, thighs, breasts cut in half - bone-in, skin-on)
  • 2 tablespoons Curry Powder (Nigerian-style if possible)
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 2 stock cubes (Maggi or knorr)
  • 1 onion (large, chopped)
  • 6 garlic cloves (crushed)
  • 4 cm ginger (grated)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 litre water

Pepper sauce (the base)

  • 4 ripe tomatoes (large, around 600 g)
  • 2 red bell peppers (large, deseeded)
  • 2-3 scotch bonnet peppers (deseeded; 1 for mild, 3 for proper Nigerian heat)
  • 1 onion (medium, quartered)
  • 2 cm ginger
  • 4 garlic cloves

Pot

  • 100 ml vegetable oil (palm oil for a more traditional flavour, vegetable oil for a lighter version)
  • 1 onion (large, sliced)
  • 4 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon Curry Powder
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 stock cube (crumbled)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 600 g long-grain rice (rinsed until the water runs clear)

Topping

  • A small handful of fresh basil (or curry leaves, optional)
  • 4 spring onions (sliced)

Method

Stage 1 - Cook the chicken

  1. Place the chicken in a large pot with the curry powder, thyme, stock cubes, onion, garlic, ginger, salt and water.
  2. Bring to a simmer; cook 25-30 minutes until tender.
  3. Lift the chicken onto a tray; reserve at least 1 litre of the strained stock.

Stage 2 - Pepper sauce

  1. Blend the tomatoes, red peppers, scotch bonnets, onion, ginger and garlic to a smooth, fine purée.

Stage 3 - Cook the base

  1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat.
  2. Add the sliced onion; cook 6-8 minutes until soft.
  3. Stir in the tomato paste; cook 4-5 minutes until much darker.
  4. Pour in the blended pepper sauce; cook 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until reduced by about a third and the colour has deepened to a brick red. The oil will pool around the edges - this is correct.

Stage 4 - Bloom

  1. Stir in the curry powder, thyme, bay leaves, oregano, crumbled stock cube and salt.
  2. Cook 1 minute.

Stage 5 - Rice

  1. Add the rinsed rice; toss to coat in the pepper sauce.
  2. Pour in the reserved chicken stock - the liquid should be 2 cm above the rice (top up with hot water if not).
  3. Bring to a steady simmer.

Stage 6 - Cover and cook

  1. Cover with foil first (pressed onto the rice surface), then the lid - the foil traps steam and stops the rice drying out.
  2. Reduce to lowest heat; cook 30-35 minutes.
  3. Don't lift the lid for the first 25 minutes.

Stage 7 - Crisp the chicken

  1. While the rice steams, heat the oven grill (broiler) on high.
  2. Brush the cooked chicken with vegetable oil; salt and pepper.
  3. Grill 8-10 minutes, turning, until deeply crispy and charred in spots.

Stage 8 - Serve

  1. When the rice is done, take it off the heat; rest covered 5 more minutes.
  2. Stir gently to fluff (the bottom layer should be slightly crispy - the prized "party rice" texture).
  3. Pile rice on plates; arrange chicken on top.
  4. Top with sliced spring onions and basil if using.
  5. Eat with fried plantain (dodo), a green salad, or stewed beans alongside.

Notes

  • Smoky bottom = party jollof: The slightly-burnt bottom layer (called "burn-burn") is celebrated, not avoided. Don't lift the lid early - let the steam-cook do its work.
  • Scotch bonnet adjustable: Three peppers gives proper Lagos heat. Reduce to one or none for mild palates; the dish still works.
  • Stock cubes: Nigerian cooking uses bouillon cubes generously; this isn't shame - they're a deliberate flavour layer. Maggi or Knorr; substitute extra salt + a teaspoon of yeast extract if you avoid them.

Storage

  • Keeps 4 days refrigerated; reheats well in a covered pan with a splash of water. The bottom-of-pot crispness is best fresh.
  • Freezes 3 months.

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