Smoky Jollof Rice

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 This is a delicious rice that is common at most Nigerian events . I am going to show you how I make delicious smoky jollof rice that is crowd pleasing. Jollof rice is a very popular West African rice dish which originated from the Wolof people of Senegal. It soon gained popularity in so many West African countries such as Nigeria and Ghana to name a few. Jollof rice has tomato , pepper and onions its base and it is cook to the taste and skill of the cook.  I am going to share my recipe with you and I hope you guys like it. In addition to the jollof rice, I will also show you how I cook turkey stew with the leftover stew from the jollof rice. So it is 2-in-1 cooking.   

• In a  pan, add turkey, onions, curry powder, cumin, ground ginger, cumin, garlic powder, seasoning cubes, a lot of water (to make turkey stock and the turkey would be flavored in the process) and cook  for about 7  minutes. The turkey would be air fried so the cooking would be completed in the air fryer. 
• Blend tomatoes, onions, peppers (use your desired amount).   In another pan, pour some vegetable oil and heat it up. Once it is hot, add the chopped onions and bay leaves. Fry the onions until it is translucent, then add the tomato paste/tin tomatoes and fry for about 5 - 10 minutes or until it looses the tangy taste. Add the tomato blend and cook on medium heat.  
• After 10 - 20 minutes, add some curry powder, thyme, seasoning cubes and salt to the stew and stir. Keep stirring the stew every 5 - 10 minutes to prevent it from burning at the bottom.  
• While the stew is cooking air fry the turkey. You could deep fry it too.  
• Cook down the stew until  most of the moisture is gone. At the point the stew would be more glossy, the oil and the stew would be uniform in color and the oil is more visible. The oil would settle at the top of the stew and is separate form the stew. 
• Parboil and wash the rice. Transfer washed rice back to the pan, add  some turkey stock (enough to cook the rice), add some stew, curry,salt, seasoning cube, stir and cover to cook until done. 
•  Add the fried turkey and the turkey stock to the stew. The turkey stock adds more flavor  to the stew and increases them volume of the stew. If you are wondering why more fluid is added at the end after cooking down the stew to remove most of the fluid. The delicious taste of the stew comes from frying that long. Adding the turkey stock adds more flavor and increases the quantity of the stew so that it can last longer.  Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Cook for 5 minutes and the stew is ready.  
• Once jollof rice is done, turn off the heat and add the green peas, stir, cover and let the heat cook the peas. Your jollof rice and turkey stew is ready!    

Ingredients  

  6 cups long grain rice 

   Turkey  

  Tomatoes  

  3 Bell peppers 

   2 cups green peas   

 5 Habanero peppers 

   2 Large onions  

  1/3 cup tomato paste/ tin tomatoes   

 2  1/2 cups olive oil or any vegetable oil of choice 

   5 bay leaves  

  4 seasoning cubes  

  1 tsp Garlic powder  

  2 tbsp Ginger powder  

  1  1/2 tbsp Smoked paprika 

   3 tbsp curry powder  

  1 tsp cumin   

 Salt to taste