Why Nigerian jollof rice is the best in Africa

DW (English)

Although the ongoing feud between Nigeria and Ghana regarding who’s Jollof rice is better may never be resolved, here comes our recipe for the best jollof rice.

Transcript

00:00It's still boiling.

00:03Who makes the best jollof rice in Africa?

00:06The Nigerians pretty much agree.

00:07Nigerian jollof rice is the best because they do it very well.

00:14But what makes it so special?

00:17The important thing I love about this jollof is the smoky effect.

00:22There's tiny bits of protein, there's pomo here, there's fish here.

00:27It's really, really nice.

00:28The color as well.

00:29It's giving Nigerian jollof, I love it.

00:33All over West Africa, people are arguing about who makes the best jollof rice.

00:37We'll come back to the jollof wars later.

00:40But first, let's get a few unbiased jollof lovers have their say in Lagos.

00:45Nigerian jollof rice is the best.

00:47I can eat it morning, afternoon, night.

00:50I eat jollof rice almost every day.

00:52And if I don't eat it in a week, I make sure I eat it on Sunday.

00:58Instead of just jollof, they specialize in jollof rice, which can be made on firewood,

01:02therefore giving it another term called firewood jollof, which gives the rice a smoky taste

01:07and very flavorful.

01:10For me, I feel jollof rice is a meal that is basically known for celebration growing

01:17up.

01:18And then right now in our society, there's no party without jollof rice.

01:22These are the ingredients you need.

01:25Rice.

01:26Most Nigerians prefer short grain rice compared to the long grain or basmati rice that the

01:30Ghanaians prefer.

01:31You need water, tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, ginger, thyme, a variety of peppers, stock,

01:38crayfish, dried fish or shrimp to give the rice some additional flavor.

01:43So first of all, we'll start with this pot.

01:45This pot is an iron cast pot.

01:47It's called akmeri in Yoruba and it's very, very important in making your firewood jollof

01:52rice because for firewood, the flame is, the fire is very, very hot.

01:56So you need a pot that can stand it for like two to three hours because for you to make

02:02a very good, authentic, overpowering jollof, you need your jollof rice to burn.

02:05Now I'm going to add the butter, which is the margarine, into the Ghanaian fire.

02:10We have our shredded onion, our onions, cut into bits for flavor and it's very important

02:14in cooking and there's nothing like too much onions.

02:18You use as much onions as you can.

02:20Next we're going to go in with our tomato paste.

02:23I'm using half of a tin, half of the tin kind of tomato paste and I'm going to be using

02:31the same measurement for the pepper mix and give it a good stir.

02:40So for the pepper mixture, we use shombo.

02:44Shombo is a thickener.

02:45It helps to, it's a kind of pepper too, but it helps to bind everything together and you

02:50have your warudo for spice to give it a little bit of heat and then you have the tomato.

02:56Tomato is both sweet and savory.

02:58It also binds everything together and next thing we'll go in, we'll go in with our, our

03:02curry, our curry mix.

03:08Everything is coming out nice.

03:09I can already, I can already smell the bay leaf smell.

03:12I can already smell the curry and the thyme as well.

03:16I can already smell the garlic and some of the other spices that are mixed in the pepper

03:19mixture as well.

03:20Everything is coming out nice.

03:21The aroma.

03:22While the rice is on the stove, we take a look at where jollof comes from and what are

03:26the jollof wars all about.

03:28One factor contributing to the vast diversity of jollof stems from the movement of the wall

03:32of people across West Africa.

03:35Many countries of the subcontinent have their own methods of preparation and many people

03:39use a variety of spices, but the secret always lies in the type of pepper one uses.

03:46I feel like jollof rice is about, for different races and for like, okay, for Nigerian, for

03:53Ghana, for Senegalese, it's all about our palates.

03:56Growing up, everybody has different kind of pepper mix.

03:58For Nigeria, we have our tatashe, we have our shombo, we have our barodo, and we have

04:03our tomato.

04:04And it's grown on different soils.

04:06So the end result is always going to be different.

04:10Jollof is as diverse as Nigeria.

04:12Almost every region has its own, like coconut jollof or fada jollof, which is made from

04:16ofada sauce.

04:18Some people use crayfish as a replacement for fish, which gives it additional flavor.

04:23For you to be able to make a good, authentic jollof rice, you need to cook it for a long

04:28time.

04:29You need it for it to steam, you need the base to be perfect.

04:32A perfect base is a perfect jollof rice.

04:35A perfect stock water is a perfect jollof rice.

04:39After about 30 to 45 minutes, the jollof rice is ready.

04:43It is easy to dish and eat, so no need to use your hand to dig.

04:47But do enjoy with a spoon or fork.

04:49If you're looking for variety and you're looking for something different to give you a kick,

04:54I recommend the Nigerian ofada jollof rice.

04:57It tastes like no other.

04:59You would love it.

05:02Have you ever tried jollof rice?

05:04Surely not all the varieties.

05:06Then go ahead, because there's something for everyone.

05:09But the ongoing feud between Nigeria and Ghana regarding whose jollof rice is better

05:13may never be resolved.

05:15This is known as the jollof war.

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