Nigerian Fried Rice
Nigerian fried rice is a multicolored dish of tasty yellow rice and a wide array of healthy vegetables. It is known as the sibling of jollof rice, and they are often served side-by-side with fried or roasted chicken at owanbes (Nigerian wedding parties), Christmas gatherings, or Sunday outings.
Nigerian fried rice is made with stir-fried vegetables (excluding tomatoes, which is what makes it different from the tantalizing jollof rice) mixed with parboiled long-grain rice marinated in chicken stock.
If you want to make it vegan, you can leave out the beef liver, pork, and chicken entirely!
Enjoy this classic Nigerian fried rice recipe!
Nigerian Fried Rice
Don’t be discouraged by the long list of ingredients as some of them are not mandatory and you can skip the ones that you are unable to source. However, curry powder, seasoning, stock and thyme are mandatory and should never miss from an authentic Nigerian fried rice.
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp vegetable oil/sunflower oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tsps curry powder
- 1 tbsp thyme/parsley/oregano
- 3 tbsps diced green bell pepper
- 1 tbsp butter or margarine
- 2 medium-sized onions
- 3 stock cubes optional
- 3 red bell pepper diced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 500 g long-grain parboiled rice
- 3 tbsp yellow bell pepper diced
- 1 can sweet corn
- 200 g diced carrots
- 100 g green peas
- 100 g spring onion diced
- 100 g pork sausage diced
- 100 g liver cooked and chopped
- 2 kg whole chicken or chicken drumsticks
Instructions
- To prepare the fried rice, wash all the vegetables. The carrots should be scraped and chopped into small cubes. Chop one onion and the spring onions. Set each of these apart.
- Cook the liver and chop into small pieces. You can cook the liver alongside the chicken to save time.
- Parboil the rice and cook for 15 minutes then drain using a colander.
Prepare the chicken stock:
- Put the chicken into a large pot, and add chopped onions, thyme, curry powder, garlic (chopped), and one chicken stock cube. Cook for 20 minutes then remove the chicken and drain the chicken stock. The chicken stock is essential to add that chicken taste to the fried rice. However, if you do not have chicken, you can make your own stock by cooking chicken condiment spice, salt, and stock cubes for 10 minutes. Or better still, and saving time, use a canned chicken stock. However, nothing beats a delicious, fresh chicken stock.
Prepare the rice:
- Put the parboiled rice into a clean pot, pour in the chicken stock, and add a cup of water. If 1 cup is not sufficient, add another. However, the water should be at the same level as the rice, or slightly lower. This will prevent the rice becoming overcooked and will ensure all the water is absorbed.
- Add some margarine or butter to the pot, and add the curry powder, thyme, pork sausage, chopped liver, and extra chopped garlic to the mixture. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes.
- In a separate saucepan, add all your vegetables (both fresh and canned), a tablespoon of butter, one chicken stock cube, and a teaspoon of salt to taste. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour the stir-fried veggies into the pot containing the rice and stir thoroughly. Cook for another 1 minute over low heat.
- The rice ought to be cooked just right once the water is absorbed. The ideal fried rice has separate grains that are firm and bite-resistant.
- Deep fry the drumsticks in hot oil for 15 minutes till golden-brown.
Notes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
For more local recipes, check out our round-up of the best Nigerian foods.
