NATIVE JOLLOF RICE(IWUK EDESI)!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Native Jollof Rice, also known as Palm oil rice but called Iwuk Edesi by the Efik people of South eastern Nigeria, is one very special delicacy made in my home back in Nigeria. How I miss those times my father traveled much(giggles). My mum would prepare this meal and we will all sit down on the floor of the girls room, eating from one tray/plate while we watch movies. Those were good bonding times as we would tease ourselves while my mum sits at one end of the room watching us with smiles on her face.....until she eventually falls asleep, tired from a busy at her shop.



Iwuk Edesi is quite easy to prepare, the main difference between this meal from the popular Jollof rice is the use of red palm oil instead of the typical vegetable oil and trust me when I say this gives it a distinct taste and aroma. Iwuk Edesi can be prepared in different ways and its taste varies, depending on your choice of meat or fish(fresh or dried) and also the addition of any vegetable of choice(optional). Most people do add in chopped ponmo, shaki, mutton, beef and even shredded chicken to this dish but I prefer to stick to sea foods while cooking this because I prefer the taste of that better although I did add some leftover diced liver to this meal.



I should mention that, I would be having my exams this month January, so I ask you guys permission not to be regular with my posts although I would be preparing a blog post on my "Recap of the year 2016" and I do hope you guys would enjoy that....Thanks in advance.

May we get to cooking shall we.....

Yield: 6 servings


Ingredients

• 700g of long grain rice
• 80g long red chilli peppers
• 160g of fresh chopped spinach (optional)
• 0.25L of palm oil
• Dried fish (cleaned and bones removed)
• Dried shrimps
• Diced cooked cow liver
• Spring onions
• 2 large size white onions
• 3 boiled eggs (optional)
• 4 fruits of tomatoes (blended together with fresh chilli peppers moderately)
• 2 Tbsp of grounded crayfish
• 1 Tbsp of grounded dried pepper
• 1 Tbsp of salt
• 1/2 Tbsp of ginger
• 1/2 Tbsp of garlic
• 3 Seasoning cubes

Directions

1.  Wash and parboil your rice, this would take less than 15 minutes on medium heat(rice is ready when your fingers can break the rice but not mash it, as that would indicate a marshy rice). When rice is ready drain rice on a sieve.
2. On medium heat, pour in your palm oil into a non-stick pot(optional) which should be big enough to cook the rice and let the oil bleach a little(oil turns a bit translucent).
3. After the oil has bleached a little while, apply your chopped spring and white onions and let that fry till translucent after which you apply your moderately blended tomatoes and fresh chill peppers. Stir tomatoes and peppers till it dries up a little, this would take about 5 minutes.
4. Now it's time to spice up the sauce.....apply crayfish, salt, ginger, garlic, grounded pepper, cooked cow liver,dried fish, dried shrimps, locust beans(iru) and stir. Ensure to taste sauce and apply more spice to taste, if need be!!
5. Since the sauce is ready, its time to apply the parboiled rice. I added in 0.25 liters of water to rice and extra palm oil(I love my rice to have the rich palm oil color) and let the rice cook up by covering my pot with foil paper and covering the pot lid. When the rice is beginning to get dried, I added my chopped spinach in.
6. The rice would be ready in about 10 minutes, calculating from the addition of the rice to the sauce. Endeavour to stir rice when the water has dried up, to ensure that the oil cooks evenly and rice dries up really well(winks).VIOLA......Food is ready!!

NOTE: you can add in your boiled eggs, in the rice to let them cook together or just add it in your served plate.

This meal is a rich native dish that would simply be nice taken with a glass of cold chilled water but if you want to feel a little bit extra with your choice of drink PLEASE DO!!

Hope I was able to give a detail explanation and direction to this recipe, if you do have any suggestion and questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below #THANKS

Recipe: Uzzy_rac

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