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Brown Rice Jollof

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: Rice Dish
Cuisine: Ghanaian
Keyword: brown rice jollof
Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 small onions 1 finely chopped,1 cut into quarters
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 large thumb size of ginger
  • 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper **
  • 3 medium-sized fresh tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
  • 1 small red bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup of tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp of curry powder
  • 2 tsp each of garlic and onion powder
  • 1.5 tbsp veggie bouillon powder **
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme you can use 1 tsp of dried thyme instead
  • 3 1/4 cups of short grain brown rice. Please refer to the photo above for the brand I used
  • 2 cups of water total/ Can sub for mushroom broth if you want
  • 1 tsp anise seeds
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Please make sure to read the frequently asked questions before preceding.
  • In a pot, at medium heat, saute the chopped onions till brown
  • While the onions are browning, blend the whole onions, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet pepper, red bell pepper and tomatoes in 1/4 cup of water
  • Add in the tomato paste and cook for a few minutes
  • If the pot is getting dry, add a splash of water
  • Once the tomato paste has fried for a few minutes, add in the blended tomato mixture and the spices. Mix everything well
  • You will then add 1 cup of water to the sauce, cover the pot, and let it cook at medium heat for 20 minutes.
  • As the stew is about to get to the 20-minute mark, rinse the rice very very well. It has a lot of starch, which can make it very sticky. Rinsing out the starch is important.
  • At the 20 minute mark, mix the rice into the stew. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Add 3/4 cup of water then cover the pot well.
  • Let the rice come to a boil for about 5 minutes, then cover with parchment paper.
  • Turn the heat to low and let the rice cook for 50 minutes. Yes, I know it is a long time but we are using brown rice and we are trying to concentrate the Jollof flavour
  • Halfway through, mix the rice so that the bottom does not burn. Taste to make sure it is cooking, then cover again for it to finish cooking.
  • After 50 minutes, check on the rice to see if it is cooked. If not, give it a few minutes.
  • Once the rice is done, let it cool down a bit before serving. The rice might feel a bit sticky, just because of the nature of this rice, but when it cools down it will be perfect

Notes

** you can use habanero, jalapeno or any spicy chilli pepper
** if you do not have veggie bouillon powder, you can switch for liquid veggie broth but substituting the water in this recipe for veggie broth