Tuesday 15 November 2016

Jollof Rice with Plantain Chips~ A vegetarian rice dish of Ghana

Ghana is a West African Country, it is thought to be the closest country to the centre of the Earth. It is located North of the Equator which means that it has a warm tropical climate. Until a few months ago I did not know much about Ghana, but my interest grew when my daughter decided to go on a trip to Ghana with Vision Aid oversees to do voluntary work to provide free eye care for the less privileged.














As a parent to alleviate any worries, I started to research about the safety, climate, food etc in Ghana. To my surprise I really started to enjoy learning about the culture and food, especially as many of the ingredients such as plantain, cassava, chillies, yam were foods I am familiar with since I have lived in East Africa in my childhood.The typical Ghanaian staple foods in Ghana include cassava and plantain, millet and sorghum. Vegetables such as Yam, maize and beans, Sweet potatoes and coco yam are regularly used in Ghanaian  cuisine.

Since we follow a vegetarian diet, we researched what vegetarian dishes would be available in Ghana, we were pleasantly surprised to read that there were a fairly good selection such as Jollof Rice (spicy vegetable rice), Kelewele ( a fried spicy savoury dish made from plantain), Gari Foto (A grain made from fermented cassava flour cooked with tomatoes and vegetable and Watchi (blackeyed peas with rice. )I have been recreating some of these recipes in my kitchen and I must say we are really enjoying the Ghanaian flavours.

One of our family favourites  is the Jollof Rice, in Ghana you an get both a non vegetarian version and also vegetarian version. Below you can check out my vegetarian version.


I made my Jollof rice in my Redmond Multi Cooker, which is my new kitchen friend. Simple and easy to use with many pre programmes it makes cooking quick and easy. If you don't have a multi cooker you can make the rice on the stove top too.




print recipe

Vegetarian Jollof Rice with Plantain Chips
Spicy vegetarian rice cooked with tomatoes and vegetables.
Ingredients:
  • 250 g Basmati Rice
  • 1 Medium white Onion peeled and thinly sliced
  • 40 g Frozen Peas
  • 1 Medium Carrot coarsely grated
  • 1/2 of each colour Capsicum red/ yellow cut into strips
  • 250 g Passata sieved tomatoes
  • 1 Red chilli finely chopped
  • 1.5 teaspoons Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Chilli Powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon Olive oil
  • 300 ml Water
Plantain Chips
  • 2 Plantain peeled and sliced into 2 mm thickness
  • 600 ml Sunflower oil for deep frying
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon Red chilli powder
Method:
1.Wash the rice in a few changes of water, drain and keep aside.2. In the Redmond multi cooker add the olive oil and set the multi cooker on Fry option. Add the onions and cook them for 3-4 minutes, once onions are translucent add the grated carrot and capsicums and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Cook with lid open.
3. Cancel the fry option and set the programme on pilaf option. Add the rice, peas, salt, chilli powder, red chilli, turmeric, tomato passata and water. Stir.
4. Close the lid and cook the rice on pilaf option for 25 minutes.5. After 25 minutes open the cooker lid and fluff up the rice with a fork.



6. Heat the oil in a large wok and when its hot fry the sliced plantain in small batches until crisp and golden brown

7. Drain the fried plantain on kitchen paper and fry the remaining.
8. Sprinkle salt and chilli powder on the fried plantain.9. Transfer the rice to serving dishes and garnish with fried plantain.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: Serves 4


The square brown wooden dish that the fried plantain chips are served in the photo above and the carved wooden African dish together with the elephant coasters which the rice is served in in the photo below are my recent purchases from Homesense. Homesense is a haven for beautiful kitchenware. The beauty of the shop is that you can find all sorts of serving dishes and kitchen ware that are regional and also from Europe, Africa, and Asia. These wooden dishes are a wonderful find as were the coasters.

This recipe is in collaboration with Redmond and Homesense.

39 comments:

  1. That was an amazing thing your daughter did! I've had plantain chips before, of course never made them myself got them from a packet while in Jamaica lol! I may try myself after seeing this - thank you.

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  2. This recipe looks so tasty. I love the plantain chips that go with it. I think it's wonderful that your daughter went to volunteer, what a great cause as well. I'm really intrigued by the multi cooker, initially I thought it was a rice cooker but it looks like a great kitchen tool!

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  3. Never tried anything like this! Looks amazing :), especially the fried plantain chips.

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  4. I've actually had Jollof rice when I went to a wedding and loved it, so delicious x

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  5. The rice looks delicious I'm a huge rice lover but not that great at cooking it but hopefully I can make this. I'm not so sure on the plantain as I have never tried it before.

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  6. This looks so tasty! I'm passing this recipe onto my boyfriend!

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  7. I love plantain - haven't had it in ages! I think this would be a great dish for this time of year - warming and yummy x

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  8. I've been looking at multi-cookers and wondering if I could use one in my kitchen. It is really useful to hear about your experience with one.

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  9. It's great that your daughter gave up her time to do voluntary work. That recipe look great I love rice dishes ;-)

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  10. I absolutely LOVE Jollof Rice! One of my best friends is from Nigeria and she makes this! xxx

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  11. What a lovely sounding recipe! Sounds rather easy to make too, which I like! I wish our local shops sold plantains though - I've only ever tried them once!

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  12. I'd love to volunteer abroad one day like this! Looks like a lovey dish

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  13. I find that quite a lot of countries outside of Europe and America tend to do good vegetarian dishes x

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  14. I love that you are getting the whole family involved in your daughter's trip to Ghana and exploring the culture by way of food. So delicious!

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  15. Oh wow, African food is a big mystery to me, I'd love to try this!

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  16. Rice is a staple food of the earth! I've just learned an new dish from your good works.

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  17. What a delicious sounding recipe and love the crispy plantain on top for added texture! Your multi cooker sounds (and looks) great. I have been meaning to get one for a while. And hats off to your daughter,,she sounds fantastic!

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  18. This looks amazing! I bet the make such good homemade food!

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  19. This looks great - especially those fried plantain chips!!

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  20. Love a good Jollof rice and your vegetarian version looks awesome and so tasty

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  21. Love the idea of plantain chips, I would very much like to try them as I've never had them before.

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  22. A lot of non-Europe countries do great veggie dishes, don't they?!

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  23. I have noticed a vegetarian trend outside of the US and Canada mostly. Your daughter did such an amazing thing, you must be so proud of her.

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  24. veggie dishes in poorer countries are always more abundant. I wish I could easily get hold of plantain as I'd love to try cooking with it.

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  25. What an incredible experience for your daughter, and that rice dish sounds delicious. Love the plantain crisps on top too! Yum.

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  26. ive never tried any dished from ghana nor have i tried plantain. would love to try and make this one day

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  27. Wow what an amazing experience and the food looks amazing! x

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  28. I'm totally going to try this - my family really love rice (even the bambino!) so we will give this a go :)

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  29. It sounds like an amazing trip! The rice looks so good too.

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  30. This recipe looks amazing! I love rice dishes and am quite a fan of plantain too. I will be adding this to my weekly food list xx

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  31. This dish looks and sounds amazing! I love plantain!

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  32. I love the idea of this, I'm a huge fan of veggie rice, and I've never tried plantain.

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  33. That bowl is beautiful! The food looks and sounds amazing too - I've never tried plantain chips before.

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  34. Oh my.. that dish looks so delicious! and what an amazing experience for your daughter.

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  35. That looks like a delicious meal and truly authentic as well. I love plantain.

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  36. What a fantastic thing for your daughter to do and a wonderful chance for you all to join in the experience. I love this recipe it looks really exciting and different. GG

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  37. The rice sounds delicious and a great experience.

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  38. This looks delicious! I bet Patti would be proud of you. Love that bit of African fabric!

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  39. I admire that students in UK get the opportunity to go and work in other countries. This way not only do they help other fellow humans but also its an eye opener for them as to how the rest of the world is. Delicious rice and with fried plantains, who can resist.

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