This week’s recipe comes from the wonderful Nma Jewel of Nigerian Lazy Chef, who has thrown the gauntlet down with this statement: “Palm Oil Rice is even more delicious than Jollof Rice”! Sacrilege right, but I guess you’ll have to try out the recipe to see if her claims are true.
Yes, yes, we know palm oil is getting some bad press lately, but the key to everything is moderation, right? Visually, it’s certainly 1-0 to Palm Oil Rice, with the yummy looking bits of snails and prawn scattered around the dish, but what does it taste like?
The veggies among you need not feel left out, Nma says: “You can also make this dish into a vegan or vegetarian dish by simply taking out the meat or protein and using only vegetables or tofu.”
As usual, we’d love to see how you get on, so send in pics of your efforts to info@melanmag.com and we’ll feature on our social media.
Ingredients
- 3½ cups of rice
- 4 cups meat stock or water
- 1 small onion (cut into wedges)
- 2 plum tomatoes (cut into little pieces)
- 1 sliced habanero pepper
- 1 small garlic clove (crushed into a paste)
- 1 cup mixed vegetables (optional)
- 1½ cup washed and cooked snails (if raw, steam with salt, bouillon, 1 habanero pepper and garlic)
- 1 handful basil (sliced)
- 4 table spoons palm oil (add more oil if you want)
- 1½ cups raw shrimp
- 1 smoked fish
- ½ cup chopped and sautéed liver (cook, cut into little pieces and sauté in oil until golden brown but not burnt)
- 1 tsp Cameroon pepper
- bouillon
- salt to taste
Method
Wash rice and cook with meat stock. When the rice is al dente, spread on to a pan to cool down or simply place the pan into the fridge to quicken the cooling process.
Heat oil, add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant. Add the tomatoes, pepper and snails.
Cook until the tomatoes have rendered. Season; then add the vegetables, liver and shrimp.
Cook for another three minutes so the veggies are cooked but still crunchy and the shrimp is pink. Add the rice in little increments into the sauce and just keep stir frying on a high heat until the sauce has completely coated the rice.
Add the Cameroon pepper and enjoy.
Recipe supplied by Nigerian Lazy Chef.
Try more Dish of the Week recipes.