Ingredients:

• 4 cups (or about 1 Litre) white rice
• 4 tomatoes and 1 bell pepper and I scotch bonnet pepper
• OR 8 ounces (or about ¼ Litre) canned tomato sauce and 3 ounces (or about 90 milliliters) canned tomato paste
• Onion
• Salt
• Dry Red Pepper (like Cayenne pepper)
• Jollof seasoning
• Meat broth (about 1 cup or ¼ Litre) or Maggi or Knorr cubes (about 4)
• Water

Method:

• Give the rice a rinse with warm or cold water before cooking
• Pour  it along with about 6 cups (or about 1½ litres) of preferably boiled water into a pot and place on medium heat
• Leave the rice to boil for about 10-15 minutes
• If you are using fresh ingredients e.g tomatoes, pepper s & onion, blend these until the mixture is finely blended
• Add either the blended  mixture to the rice or if you prefer not to use fresh ingredients, add the tomato sauce, tomato paste and dry pepper
• Sliced or diced onions can also be added for extra taste
• If you have any  broth from boiling any meats e.g beef or chicken, you can add it to this as well.  If  you are a vegetarian, adding about 4 maggi or Knorr original cubes is as good
• Add a teaspoon of jollof seasoning and about 2 teaspoons of salt; this is completely dependent on your salt tolerance so can be altered to suit your taste
• Add enough water to allow the rice to cook until soft (since you will not be draining the rice, it is better to add a little at a time and check up on it regularly). Too much will result in soggy rice!
• Reduce the heat to allow for slow cooking and leave the rice to cook until soft.
• When it seems like all the water in the pot has dried up, turn the rice with a wooden spoon and leave for another few minutes. A dull popping sound indicates dryness and if the rice is soft enough, then the heat can be turned off
• It is also possible to bake Jollof rice. Once all the ingredients have been added to the washed rice, it can be baked at about 350 degrees and checked at regular intervals
• Jollof rice is best served with plantain.