We’ve made a lot of great recipes here at Midamar for your tasting enjoyment. From creamy Italian pastas to savory Middle Eastern wraps and kebabs and comforting American classic burgers; now we can all expand our palates even more with amazingly rich and complex African cooking in this authentic Jollof Rice recipe! Variety is the spice of life, and now you can add some variety to your favorite rice dishes with fantastically spiced rice and seasoned Halal chicken.
Jumping right into it, the seasoning blend for the chicken is a great place to start, and it’s a very tasty blend of classics like black pepper, garlic, and nutmeg, with the exciting addition of half of a habanero pepper. If you aren’t a huge spice fan, worry not, you can scoop out the seeds and cut the heat dramatically, then you’re left with just a little heat but mainly fresh pepper flavor. This also helps turn the other dry seasoning into a thick seasoning paste for mixing onto the chicken.
And speaking of, we used Midamars Halal chicken drumettes for this recipe, but because it’s a recipe for serving a hungry group, we recommend 2 packages of Halal drumettes or chicken drumsticks for a larger serving. We only use half of the seasoning blend on this chicken, and we use the other half later for the blend that will go into the rice.
You’ll also boil the chicken in a large pot, and when it’s done, you’ll have a very tasty seasoned broth that will get mixed in with the rice later as well, so every part of this recipe pulls double duty making the rest that much better and more flavorful!
But before you can make the rice, you’ll need the blend of veggies that infuse it with such great, fresh flavor. It’s a blend of fresh jalapeño, tomato, and red bell peppers blended then combined in the same pot from earlier with simmering diced onion and plenty of tomato paste. There’s a lot of flavor packed in here, but we’re making plenty of rice, so you’ll need it.
We actually ended up using only about half of this simmering flavor extravaganza, not everyone was in the office at the time, so we made enough jollof to serve about 4-6 people. If you’re feeding a lot of people, then no need to adjust, but for a smaller group, you can use less of this and save the rest for something later. This veggie blend makes for an excellent chicken marinade, so it doesn’t go to waste!
When everything is simmered together, add in the basmati rice and the broth from earlier, then let rice do its thing and get infused with all those amazing flavors we’re working with. Mix it occasionally so it doesn’t burn to the bottom, then while it cooks, you can mix up the spicy green sauce to round out this recipe.
If you’re a fan of spice, this is your time to shine, but if you aren’t then you can adjust this sauce in a few ways to cut the heat. This sauce is primarily a blend of parsley and jalapeño, so it can bring the heat if you let it, or you can scoop out the seeds of the jalapeño like you did the habanero. Full disclosure, we did NOT do this and the sauce was way too hot for anyone here, so we simmered it in a pan to let some of the liquids out and that helped substantially.
When the sauce is done, the rice is cooked, and the chicken is juicy and tender. You’re almost ready to dive into and enjoy them all together. Toss some Sno Pac peas and carrots into the rice then dig in!
Normally rice is a great neutral flavor to tie the rest of a meal together, a great carb round out other proteins and veggies, but here, the rice is the star of the show. It’s infused with fresh, rich, and complex flavors from every part of this recipe that makes every bite a delight. The chicken is tender and delicious, and it all has a nice little kick from the green pepper sauce.
Every part of this recipe makes the others that much tastier. It took us too long to try an authentic African recipe, and what an amazing recipe this is! If you’re already a fan, then you know how tasty this recipe can be, but if you’re not, do yourself a favor and give this a try for yourself next time you have hungry guests to feed. Enjoy!
