sort of jollof

So, I have never made Jollof rice before and being totally honest, I don't recall ever eating it. It's just one of those dishes which has passed me by. Coming from a West Indian background, my family hailing from Barbados. We were firmly raised on Rice n Peas. My mum's version of which, was made using Black Eye Peas. Jollof is a popular as part of Nigerian cuisine. That's about the extent of my knowledge. Totally embarrassed by that. I understand that my Bajan rice n peas is grandchild of Jollof. Generations later, here I am doing a google search to find out how to make it. 
Here is the recipe I used. It takes the recipes I found online and blends them with what I actually had in my cupboard.

• Fry a finely chopped onion with Garlic, Chilli, Cumin, Curry powder, Ginger and Smoked Paprika
• Add a cup of easy cook Long grain rice
• Add 2 tablespoons on tomato puree
• Add a cup of Passata (blended tinned tomatoes) 
• add a cup of good quality stock (Chicken or Vegi)
• Cover and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes. 

For my experimental version, I actually threw in half a tin of kidney beans which were hanging around in my fridge. As well as a small bag of frozen vegetables. I believe this may be frowned upon in the African cookery community. But I wont tell, if you won't😊 

Topped it off with some grilled Plantain and chopped parsley.  

Read more about Jollof here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jollof_rice

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Made a Jollof rice. I've never actually made it before. This one had to be vegetarian for my daughter. Rice was cooked in Tomato, onion, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cumin, thyme, smoked paprika, chillies. With some peppers. I threw in the vegetables and the beans cos they were hanging around in my fridge and needed using up. (Call off the food police?) I'm fully aware that they are NOT traditionally in Jollof. But "me nah wanna waste food" Served with some Plantains and I was a bit excessive with the parsley ?? Where's the best Jollof in IPSWICH?

A post shared by Brian Pow (chef n bits) (@knifeofbrian) on Jun 11, 2020 at 10:51pm PDT