Habari Gani - What's The News in Swahili-
I made a list of intentions for 2019. Inner standing and reconnecting with food my ancestors ate are at the top of that list of intentions. You know I enjoy cooking and can make almost anything with a recipe. One day last year, I woke up early and took the train from Bronzeville all the way up to the Wilson Red Line stop. I set out to make Egusi Stew and fish stew using mackerel. I bought all the necessary supplies, was re-insured by the auntie at the African grocery, and headed home. I made those two dishes all day, and they came out horribly inedible. The auntie sold me spoiled fufu, and the smoked fish she gave me overwhelmed my dishes. I was crushed. Since then, I have yet to try to make another African dish.
I decided to make Jollof rice and Yassa Fish a few days ago. I wasn't done cooking until almost midnight, but Ladi patiently waited for me to finish.
It was good AF, and I knew it was fire when Ladi turned to me and said he loved me.
Cooking this made me feel more connected to the diaspora. Using red palm oil and frying plantains with my hair wrapped up in Ankara is freeing. I want to spend 2019 eating like this!
#JollofRice #Diaspora #Kwanzaa #WhatAfricansEat #SelfLove #SelfCare #Nourishment #Plantains — at Bronzeville, Chicago.
Contributor to Wash Your Hands First Blog:
Adero Knott is the founder of AK Prosthetics and the recent Lupe Fiasco #NeighborhoodStartFund winner. Her 2017 New Year's Resolution is to Get Money.
Gambian Jollof Rice Recipe
COOKING INGREDIENTS: (Fish Jollof Rice): | (Beef & Chicken)
1) 2 lbs. fresh fish
2) 2 cups of vegetable oil
3) 6 cups of water
4) 1 medium fresh tomato
5) 4 tbsp tomato paste
6) 2 large onions
7) 1 small cabbage Benachin
9) 2 medium carrots
10) 1 bay leaf
11) 4 cups of rice
12) Salt and pepper to taste
COOKING METHOD:
1) Clean and cut fish in halves.
2) Fry the fish in vegetable oil until both sides are brown.
3) Remove the fish, add onions and fresh tomatoes, paste them into the hot oil, and fry until brown.
4) Pour water and bring to boil, then include cabbage, carrots, and bay leaf, add seasonings, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 mins.
5) Remove vegetables and add the rice while continuously stirring.
6) Reduce heat and cover the pot. Simmer for 10 mins.
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Benachin is sometimes called cheebu yap (with meat) / Thieboudiene / chebu jen (with fish). Jollof Rice was invented by a Senegalese woman named Mam Penda Mbaye of the Wolof ethnic group.
Beef & Chicken Jollof Rice
COOKING INGREDIENTS:
1) ½ lb beef
2) ½ chicken
3) 4 tomatoes
4) 1 large bitter tomato (jaxatu / jahatu)
5) Vinegar
6) ½ small cabbage
7) 3 cloves of garlic
8) ½ large eggplant "mock tomato"
9) 3 dry bay leaves
10) 4 large onions
11) Salt
12) 2 peppers
13) ¼ small pumpkin
COOKING METHOD:
1) Wash and cut the meat into portions. Mix and season with black pepper, salt, vinegar, and pounded garlic. Leave to stand for 30 minutes before cooking.
2) Prepare vegetables by slicing them into portions.
3) Peel, wash and thinly slice the onions.
4) Wash and skin the tomatoes.
5) Fry poultry in a pan of hot oil until golden brown, then remove and put aside.
6) Fry the beef and leave it in a cooking pot.
7) Fry the onions until brown, insert scalded and skinned tomatoes, and cook & stir occasionally until it is a pulpy consistency.
8) add tomato puree and pounded peppers, and cook gently for a quarter of an hour.
9) Add a half cup of water mixed with ®Maggie Cubes, bring to a rapid boil, and place the prepared vegetables, bay leaves, fried chicken, and salt into the pot of meat.
10) Cook for approximately 20 minutes.
11) Take out the vegetables and chicken when cooked and place them in the oven on low heat. Leave the beef in the pot and cook for 20 minutes until tender.
12) Place the washed rice in the pot, add sliced peppers, and bring rapidly to a boil.
13) Reduce the heat and cook for 25 minutes on low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is well cooked.
14) Serve the Jollof Rice on a large platter, and place vegetables and meats on the side.
Reference:
http://www.accessgambia.com/information/jollof-rice-benachin.html
