Four Essential Ghanaian Rice Dishes

If you haven’t already noticed, Ghanaians love rice. It in our blood, it is the first thing our parents tell us that we own whenever we want to eat at a restaurant. A lot of Ghanaian children have been traumatized by the phrase “there is rice at home” But this is definitely true. Your average ghanaian eats rice at least once a day and the rice can come in different flavours: plain white rice, agwa mu (oil rice: rice cooked with oil and sautéed onions), jollof rice, waakye, and fried rice.

The rice of choice in Ghana is perfume long grain jasmine rice. Jasmine rice sets our jollof and rice dishes apart from other West African version of jollof. it is very starch but absorbs a lot of flavour. To succeed at any Ghanaian rice dish, you will need quality long grain thai jasmine rice, which you can find at any asian supermarket. You are specifically looking for new crop.

These four rice dishes are incredible as sides but they are also perfect on their own. They truly reflect Ghanaian cooking and technique. I have linked the original blog post/recipes for each of these rice dishes with detailed instructions and videos

WAAKYE

Waakye is a very very popular dish that hails from the north of Ghana. The word “waakye” roughly translates from the Hausa language as beans and rice. As a vegan and Ghanaian, this was one of the first recipes I had to master. Waakye is eaten at all times of the day: for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it is usually sold in plantain leaves. Waakye is even served as a rice option at most events and parties

What you will need for waakye

• Rice
• Black Eye peas
• Baking Soda for colour

How to Serve Waakye

At its most basic level, waakye is accidentally vegan. However, what truly brings this dish together are the add ons, many of which are not vegan ingredients. To make it completely vegan, you can switch out a number of things to achieve the same combination of flavours. You will need some boiled spaghetti, a super simple coleslaw of cabbage, carrots and green pepper with vegan mayonaise, shito (ghanaian hot sauce: click here for the recipe), kelewele (click here for recipe), easy tomato stew (click here) and some extra plant-based protein (click here for my spicy oven baked tofu)

JOLLOF RICE

This one needs no introduction. If there is one recipe from West Africa you should know about it is Jollof Rice. invented in Senegal and spreading across the region, Jollof Rice has been the subject of intense cultural debates. Every West African country cooks their jollof rice differently. We Ghanaians love to cook ours in a rich tomato based sauce with the finest thai jasmine long grain rice. It truly is a labour of love

What You Will Need For Jollof Rice

• Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Red Bell pepper and Scotch bonnet pepper are the most important base for any Ghanaian stew. Having the right balance of each gives the Jollof a really nice, rich flavour and most importantly the dark red colour, which you want
• Tomato Sauce: This is essential for the stew. I mean it is a tomato based recipe so of course
• Rice: Specifically long grain jasmine rice
• Spices: A mixture of cumin, garam masala, cloves and anise seeds add a nice depth of flavour
• Patience! yes, patience is an ingredient because this is a technically challenging recipe that requires a lot of patience. However, the rewards are definitely worth it

How to Serve Jollof

Jollof Rice is also enjoyed with coleslaw, a choice of protein like my spicy suya meatballs, kelewele and shito. You can serve it as the main dish or a side.

FRIED RICE

This is the little brother to Jollof Rice at a party. You can see that the menu at a Ghanaian party is full of different rice options. This jollof Rice resembles nothing like recipes made in different Asian countries. It has Ghanaian flavour, spice and it is quite simple to make. Before fast food really took a hold in Ghana, fried rice was the premier fast food meal. The earliest fast food chains in Ghana were built on the backbone of fried rice served with spicy chicken and hot shito

What You will Need For Fried Rice

• Day old rice
• Aromatics; Ginger, garlic and onion
• Vegetables; Grated carrot and any other greens (popular choices are chopped green pepper or scallions)
• Protein (In Ghana, it is usually chicken and egg but for this recipe we will be sticking with tofu. you can also completely omit the tofu)

How to Serve Fried Rice

Fried Rice is usually served with chicken and shito. However, for our purpose, fried rice can be served with the suya meatballs (click here) or oven baked tofu with shito (click here). The shito is a must!

AGWA MU (OIL RICE)

This rice dish is more of a home-cooked favourite. The rices above are usually party recipes or better at restaurants or food stand than it is at home. But Agwa mu is your everyday rice, especially if you want to make your rice a little less boring. My mum mention that they ate this rice a lot growing up, especially made with palm oil. For a much lighter option, the spiced rice with cumin and star anise is just as great. This large pot of rice goes well with any sauce.

What you will need for the Spiced Rice

• Oil
• Rice
• Onion
• Star Anise
• Cumin Seeds
• Chilli Flakes

The recipe calls for Star Anise and Cumin but you can make this recipe without any of the spices.

How to Serve Agwa Mu

This recipe goes with anything. it is a perfect side for any sauce. You can try it with the peanut lentil stew (click here) or tomato stew (click here)