COCONUT JOLLOF RICE

The iconic jollof has proven itself as the most versatile Nigerian meal to make. From the Classic jollof to native jollof to spaghetti jollof or even agidi jollof.....i could go on and on with the endless list. When it comes to jollof, there's really no limit to how you make it. The coconut flavor in this jollof recipe would keep you going back for more.

 How To Make Coconut Jollof

Prep Time:  20 minutes

• Cook Time: Over an hour
• Meal Type : Main Course
• Misc:           Serve hotter

Ingredients:::

• 1 kg Beef
• 5 Plum Tomatoes
• 2 Tatashey(Red bell pepper)
• 5 chili pepper (Shombo)
• 5 Red scotch bonnet pepper(Ata rodo)
• 1 cooking spoon Tinned tomato puree
• 1 Red Onion
• 3 Cloves Garlic,minced - optional
• 2 whole coconuts
• 4 Bay leaves 'whole'
• 1 tbsp. Dry Thyme
• 1 tbsp. Curry powder
• 5 Seasoning cubes
• 3 cups Rice
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable Oil for frying

Directions:::
Step 1: The first step is to prepare the stock. Rinse the beef severally and place in a pot. Season with crushed seasoning cubes, salt, curry, thyme and ground/minced ginger,chopped onion and garlic. Boil till tender and your Beef Stock is ready . Remove the meat from the stock and fry in a separate pan. If you don't like beef, you could use Turkey for Turkey stock, or chicken for Chicken stock Here . Set the stock aside separately and the oil used in frying separately. You'd need these later.

Step 2: Rinse the rice thoroughly and place in a pot. Add enough water just enough to cover the rice and par boil for 10 mins. Rinse the parboiled rice with cold water, drain and set aside. OR Soak the rice in hot water for some minutes, rinse with clean water, drain in a sieve and set aside.

: Step 3: Next, Remove the seeds from the tatashe rinse well. Rinse the Tomatoes, chili pepper, Scotch bonnet pepper (ata rodo) and onion well too. Blend everything to a smooth puree. Pour the blended puree into an empty iron pot and boil till there's no water left leaving just the concentrated puree in the pot.

Step 4: For the coconut milk, remove the coconut flesh from the shell and cut into smaller pieces. place this into a blender, add some water and blend. Strain off the milk to separate it from the chaff.

Step 5: Add the tinned tomato paste into the boiled tomato and pepper puree. Pour the Oil used in frying the meat into the tomapep puree and use it to fry the tomapep puree while stirring constantly so it doesn't get burnt for about 5minutes

Step 6: Pour the Beef Stock (meat water) into the fried puree and mix. Add the coconut milk,Check the salt, seasoning and spices and add more if needed. Gently add the parboiled rice into the puree and stock mixture and make sure the stock covers the rice, if it doesn't simply add water to ensure it does. Add the Bay leaves to the pot and cover.

Step 7: Leave the jollof to cook and soften and once you notice the liquid in the pot has almost dried up leaving concentrated tomato puree at the top, turn with a wooden spoon or spatula. Once the rice is done, turn off the burner and leave to cool.

MELON SOUP WITH PUMPKIN LEAVES (OBE EGUSI)

Egusi soup (Melon Soup) is Unarguably the most popular Nigerian soup everyone loves. It's quite versatile too as it's prepared by every single tribe in Nigeria though the methods of preparation might differ slightly.
No matter how it is prepared, the end result still remains the same good old tasty soup
 In the north it's known as Miyan Gushi, in the east it is known as Ofe egusi, in the west it is known as efo-elegusi.


It could also be prepared with different leaves such as Ugu leaf "fluted pumpkin leaf", Onugbu "Bitter leaf, Afang "Wild spinach", water leaf e.t.c

A different leaf means a different flavor.
One of the reasons why i love preparing Egusi soup with bitter leaf is, with bitter leaf the soup tends to last longer without the taste changing while being refrigerated but when prepared with ugu leaves, it's best eaten within a time frame. Also, bitter leaf makes it fingerlicking good.

How to make Egusi soup with bitter leaf
• Prep Time:  30 minutes
• Total Time: Over 45 minutes
• Serves :       6
Ingredients:::
• 2 Cups Melon Seeds "Egusi"
• 600g Red beef
• 1 medium sized Stock fish
• 2 Medium Smoked fish
• 1/2 Cooking spoon Cray fish
• 5 chili pepper "Shombo"
• 3 red scotch bonnet pepper "Ata rodo"
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1½ Cup palm oil
• 1 Cup Bitter leaf - Pre-washed
• 3 Seasoning cubes
• Salt to taste
Directions:::

Step 1: The first step is to peel the egusi by removing the white Egusi seeds from the brown shell. Place the peeled Egusi in a dry mill (The smaller grinder that comes with the Cup blender) and grind till smooth. It might start to cake up but never mind, that's not a problem

 Step 2: Bitter leaf is always sold pre-washed in the Nigerian market. To be on the safer side and to avoid making your soup extremely bitter, it's always advisable to Boil and re-wash the already washed bitter leaf.
Place the pre-washed bitter leaf in an empty pot and add some water. Cook on medium heat for 10mins. Strain and rinse about 2-3 times more. Squeeze out the excess water and set aside for later use. Please taste it before adding to the soup (There's no remedy to Bitter Egusi soup - If you've got, please share below)

Step 3: Wash the chili pepper and scotch bonnet. Dice or blend into a puree - Set aside.

Step 4: For the Stock, you could use any type of meat or fish you choose to. For this particular recipe, i used a mixture of Stock fish, Smoked fish & Beef.
Wash the Beef, Stock fish and Smoked fish (remove the bone). Place the beef in an empty pot, add the blended pepper puree and Chopped onion (you could also blend the onion), Crushed seasoning cubes and just enough water to cover the content of the pot. Cook on medium heat for about 25 minutes. Add the salt, washed stock fish and smoked fish, Cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off the burner and set aside.

 Step 5: In an empty pot, pour in the palm oil and heat it for 1minute ,then mix the ground Egusi with halfcup of  warm water to make paste. On medium heat, stir fry for about 3 minutes till it starts to dry up but don't let it burn. Note you can mix your egusi with blend  or chop onions if you want it to cake up very well.

Step 6: Pour in the meat & fish stock in step 4 above, add the ground crayfish, Stir and cover the pot. Leave to cook for about 15 minutes till the Egusi swells and cakes up a little. By this time, the oil would have settled on top.

Step 7: Add the washed bitter leaf, stir and cover the pot. Leave to simmer for 5-7 minutes before turning off the burner.

Serve with any "Swallow", Yam or Rice.