Oven Baked Jollof Rice with Chicken Yassa

Nigeria meets Senegal in Oven Baked Jollof Rice and Chicken Yassa

I was on vacation a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Holidays help to refuel energies us to deliver our beat at work. Spending time with family is always great. From my visit to Niagara Falls in Canada to attending the #Toronto jazz festival to taking out time to do some painting in addition to cooking of course. Cooking today is all about Oven Baked Jollof Rice. A different twist to the regular method.

On one of the legs on my flight one of the dishes served was Jollof rice and Chicken Yassa. To say that I was disappointed on what I saw on my plate is an understatement. I am a believer in calling a dish a familiar name then delivering on it. Tweaks to dishes are allowed but to go completely off is not excusable. Something tells that the Jollof rice debate will not go off any time soon.

I decided to recreate Jollof rice and Chicken Yassa and I must say this is a very interesting fusion of Nigerian and Senegalese popular dishes. Partly cooking the rice in the oven produces an interesting result, first all the ingredients are retained and the rice cooks evenly.

Enjoy!

 

Recipe for oven  Baked Jollof rice

Ingredients

2 cups Rice

2 small tins Tomato paste

4 cooking spoons of Tomato/Pepper mixture.

1 medium size Onion (chopped)

3 cooking spoons Vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon Curry powder

Half  teaspoon Thyme

1/4 teaspoon Blackpepper

2-3 cups water or meat stock (quantity will depend on brand of rice)

Seasoning to taste

Salt to taste

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 375degrees
2. Chop and fry the onion for 2 minutes
3. Pour in the tomato purée and seasoning, salt, garlic and thyme and fry till the oil turns red and the sourness of the tomato disappears
4. Add the tomato/ pepper mix and continue to fry for another 5 minutes
5. Next add the rice and fry for about 10 minutes stirring to prevent the rice burning at this stage. Frying helps the red color to be absorbed by the rice
6. Add the meat stock or water, taste to correct seasoning, stir.
7. Pour the rice into a non-stick baking tray, cover with aluminum foil and pop in the oven and bake till the water dries up and the rice is soft. You can start with 2 cups of water or meat stock Check softness of rice as cooking progresses and add more water as needed. It takes about 20- 30 minutes to cook.
8. Serve with Chicken Yassa.

 

Recipe for Chicken Yassa

Ingredients

6 pieces chicken

3 medium bulb Onion(sliced)

5 bulbs Garlic

4 strands spring Onion

1 Green Pepper

I sweet Yellow or Red bell pepper(optional)

2 – 4 whole Red Peppers(optional)

1/2 teaspoon Black Peppers( freshly ground)

3 table spoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Mustard

10 pieces of Olives (optional)

2 cooking spoons Vegetable Oil

Chicken Seasoning to taste

2 cooking spoons Water

Salt to taste

 

Method

1. Cut chicken into desired pieces.
2. Blend coarsely, garlic, green and yellow peppers, dry pepper and spring onion
3. Season the chicken well with the blended mix, chicken seasoning, black pepper, salt, lemon juice and 1 cooking spoon oil. Allow to marinade for 2-3 hours .Save some marinade for the onion.
4. Grill Chicken on charcoal grill or oven. The grilling process is mainly to allow the smoke to flavor the meat and get the meat somewhat cooked. Turn the chicken to brown evenly. This will take about 45-60 minutes
5. Meanwhile chop the onion into medium slices. Season with leftover condiments used for meat marinade. Allow to marinade whilst chicken is grilling
6. Deep fry grilled chicken until it is golden brown. Set aside
7. Heat about 2 cooking spoons oil in another pot and fry the onion for about 5 minutes. Add mustard and whole red peppers. Add the juice from the marinade and the water. Fry for about 5 minutes.
8. Typically hot peppers are added whole, so people that like very hot foods can use these peppers at table
9. Add the fried chicken to the onion sauce and stir to mix well . Drop in the olives. Taste to correct seasoning and salt. Lower heat and cook for about 20 minutes or until chicken is tender
10. Serve with the Jollof rice.

 

 

Watch the video for Oven Baked Jollof Rice  here: