Jollof rice, a vegetarian recipe from Nigeria

Name: Jollof rice
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Nigeria
Ingredients: 500 g long-grain parboiled rice; 4 ripe tomatoes; 2 red peppers; 1 scotch bonnet chilli (or habanero), more to taste; 2 onions, one for the sauce, one sliced; 3 tbsp tomato purée; 100 ml neutral oil; 1 tsp dried thyme; 1 tbsp curry powder; 2 bay leaves; 600 ml vegetable stock labelled gluten free; Salt and pepper

Jollof rice

Rice cooked in a blended tomato and red pepper sauce with scotch bonnet, thyme and curry powder until the bottom catches and smokes. West Africa's icon.

Published on 26 November 2025·Updated on 26 September 2026

VeganGluten-free#rice#tomato#pepper#chilli#celebration

Method

Blend the tomatoes, peppers, chilli and one onion to a smooth purée. You should have about 700 ml of sauce.
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pot and brown the sliced onion for 5 minutes. Add the tomato purée and fry it for 3 minutes, stirring, to cook out its sharpness.
Pour in the blended vegetables, add the thyme, curry powder, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Reduce uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce thickens and the oil rises to the surface.
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then add it to the sauce with the stock. Stir once and taste the liquid; it should be well seasoned.
Cover with foil and then the lid, and cook on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes without lifting the lid.
Check the rice. If it is still firm, add a splash of hot water and give it another 5 to 10 minutes. Let the bottom catch slightly for the prized smoky flavour.
Fluff with a fork, remove the bay leaves and serve with fried plantain and a salad.

Jollof is the subject of a passionate rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana. The Nigerian version uses parboiled rice and chases that slightly caramelised, smoky bottom known as “party jollof”.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.
Reduce
Uncovered, water leaves and flavour concentrates. It is done when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Frequently asked questions

Why parboiled rice rather than ordinary long grain?

Parboiled grains absorb the sauce without breaking down over the 25 to 30 covered minutes, whereas ordinary rice tends to clump and split in a liquid this thick and this plentiful.

How do I get the faintly smoky base?

You let the bottom catch slightly at the end, over very low heat and without lifting the lid. A heavy-based pot spreads the heat so you get that light caramel rather than a burnt layer.

The liquid is gone but the rice is still firm. What now?

Add a little hot water, never cold, and give it another 5 to 10 minutes covered. Resist stirring: the method calls for a single stir when the rice goes in, and stirring later breaks the grains and turns it stodgy.

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Jollof rice

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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