Back in 2018, I had a wonderful visit to see my friend Donna in Lagos, Nigeria. Certainly, on a visit to Nigeria one must try the traditional Jollof rice and Jollof stew. In fact, the Jollof dish was easy to find even as fast food. We went to a fast food restaurant called Chicken Republic, where I had my first taste of Jollof rice and chicken stew. This recipe for Jollof Stew is adapted from Eleanor’s Dish, and it was recommended to me by Donna. Interestingly, it contains both chicken and beef, and a bit of crayfish to add to the mix of flavours.
As usual the secret is in the sauce! There are blended vegetables mixed with a lot of other flavours to make a spicy sauce. One ingredient is the Maggi sauce, and this seems to be used often in Nigerian cooking. Actually, I have no idea what is in it but it does taste different to normal chicken or vegetable stock cubes. Finally, the cooked chicken and beef are added at the end after the sauce has had time to stew. The stew can be served with plain rice or Jollof rice. I decided to make the Jollof rice, which has many of the same ingredients. That recipe will follow next week!
In the meantime, you can read about the experience of sending postcards from Nigeria.
Ingredients
2 lbs chicken drumsticks
2 lbs beef (diced)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cube Maggi or Knorr cubes (vegetable or chicken) or 1 tsp Maggi liquid seasoning
1/2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 cups water
Ingredients for Sauce
2 fresh large tomatoes, peeled
3 red bell peppers
2 habanero peppers (I used one so it would not be too spicy)
3 large red onions
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 6oz canned tomato paste
1/2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup blended crayfish (optional)
1 cube Maggi or Knorr cubes (vegetable or chicken) or 1 tsp Maggi liquid seasoning
2 bay leaves
Salt to taste
Instructions
Beef and chicken
Add beef and chicken to a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Then add chopped onions and spices (curry, thyme, Maggi or Knorr cubes, salt and pepper). Add about 2 cups of water to the mix. Cook covered (but with a gap to let steam escape) for 30-45 mins or until chicken is soft and tender without redness inside.
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180C
When chicken and beef are done cooking, drain them and then put on a baking tray and bake until browned, about 10 minutes. Pile the beef together so it doesn’t get too cooked. Reserve the stock for the sauce.
Sauce
In a blender or with a hand blender, blend tomatoes, red bell peppers, habanero peppers and large onions until consistency is smooth and set aside.
In a medium-sized pot, heat up about 4 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add chopped red onions and fry for about 5 mins or until redness starts to fade. Pour in tomato paste and fry for 10 minutes, stirring continuously to avoid burning. Add the blended tomato and pepper mixture, crayfish, maggi, ground pepper, bay leaves, curry powder and thyme. Mix and fry for about 30 mins, stirring often to avoid burning.
Add reserved chicken stock and salt (if necessary). Mix and cook for an additional 10 minutes
Toss the baked chicken and beef in the sauce and mix. Serve with rice
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