Hello lovelies! I am really excited for this recipe, I am constantly trying to eat healthy and the more health food education I get the more guilt I feel about eating ordinary white rice. This week I decided to make some brown rice jollof and it turned out PERFECT!
Why Brown Rice you ask:
Brown rice has intact bran, Bran contains several items of major importance – the two major things are: fiber and essential oils. Fiber is not only filling, but is recommended in the prevention of major diseases such as certain gastrointestinal diseases and heart disease. Most food guide recommend 25 grams of fiber a day, a cup of brown rice will give nearly 3.5 g, while an equal amount of white rice has less than 1 g. The oils that are present in the bran also help to lower the risks of heart disease by decreasing the levels of serum cholesterol in our bodies.
I will like to clarify that calories and carbohydrate comparison on both are very similar, the edge brown rice has is better nutrition and the ability to keep you fuller longer.
Brown vs White Rice:
Ingredients:
- Coconut oil – 1/3 cup
- Red onion (thinly sliced) – 1/3 cup
- Tomato paste – 156ML Can
- Chicken bouillon –One 12g cube
- Dried Thyme, curry powder and chili powder – ½ teaspoon each
- Salt to taste
- Small bay leaves – 2
- Brown Rice – 2.5 cups
- Water- 3 Cups
- Large fresh tomato- sliced – Optional
Other: Sheet of foil
Directions:
- Soak the rice in warm water for 45minutes to 1 hour prior to use
- Place a pot with a tight fitting lead on medium heat, add in the oil and heat up for 1-2 minutes, add in the chopped onions and fry until translucent
- Add in the tomato paste; fry the onion and paste for 3 minutes. Add in bouillon cube, thyme, curry, chili powder and salt. Combine
- Add in 3 cups of water and bay leaves. Cover and bring to a rolling boil
- Wash the soaked rice until water runs clear. Add in the rice and reduce cooking heat to low-medium. Cover the pot with the foil and then the lid
- Leave to cook for 40 minutes
- Remove the pot from heat and stir. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Add fresh tomato (if using)
Serve jollof rice with your choice of protein and fried plantain
I tried this last night. Even with soaking, it took a long time to cook. However the main problem was the texture. It came out well cooked but very clumpy and saucy. I let it air-dry for a few hours so that it could dry out and broke up the clumps with a spoon. It was better but still not good enough to convert my family to brown rice. I need to make this so that the individual grains do not stick together. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I can’t believe it has taken me so long to write a review. This is my family’s favorite jollof recipe – over any white rice jollof recipe (and don’t get me wrong: we love 9jafoodie’s white rice jollof recipe too). I think the coconut oil really adds a lot to this recipe, so don’t omit it! For the spices, I use 1tsp of muchi curry, thyme and chili, and add 1/2-1 tsp of chipotle chili powder for a spicy jollof. I use 1.5 tsp of sea salt and don’t bother with the chicken buillon because I am vegetarian. Finally, I have used different types of brown rice (with varying degrees of success), but if you are in the US, the best rice for this recipe is Trader Joe’s Brown Basmati Rice. The cooking instructions say to cook it for 40 mins, and it makes perfect jollof after an hour soak in warm-hot water. Good luck! Here’s to having your brown rice and eating it too!
You’re the realest MVP. I just tried out this recipe tonight and I can’t believe I made this amazing pot of jollor. 😘😗😍
Didnt use brown rice, used easy cook but thank you so much for this recipe.
Abel approves of Jollof
jollof is bae
Thanks for this recipe! I eat brown rice almost exclusively and was getting tired of plain old brown rice and then having to make some thing else to eat it with. I’ve made this every week for the past 3 weeks (I know I can’t get sick of jollof, ever!). So good! I found soaking the rice doesn’t make a difference to cooking time. I tried using a pressure cooker because I normally cook plain brown rice in a pressure cooker but that didn’t work out too well.
By the way, so what I’ve found is that you have to soak brown rice for like 6-8 hours to affect cooking time to any appreciable degree
That’s interesting. I find that the variety of brown rice is also important. I recently found a bastmati brown rice brand at my local grocer, it’s perfect and cooks under 40 minutes.
Pressure cooker will most likely turn the rice to mush :(
It did. The top was mush and the bottom burned badly
I can’t get sick of Jollof either!
I hope its not a name thing!
Hhahahahahha
Can i use uncle bens brown rice for this recipe?
I haven’t used that before but I don’t see why not.
I made this along with the Coconut Chicken Thighs for dinner tonight…. It was the bomb! :) Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Whoop!!! thanks for the feedback.
OMG!!! This turned out perfect. 9jafoodie is my new Bible
Whoop!!!! thanks for the feedback, we appreciate you.
I tried this last night and after 40 minutes the rice was still hard, I added more water it turned out less fluffy and more sticky. I tried this last week with your jasmine rice recipe and had the same issue. I used the exact water measurement your recipe required… what am I doing wrong?
I think your heat might have been too low. I think low-medium is probably more accurate if you have an electric stove. if you have gas, setting should be between 2 and 3.
Thank you so much for all your amazing recipes. May I please know which store you got the rice from please? Was it in Canada? I haven’t seen this type in Costco or superstore. Thanks.
I got this particular brand from T&T. superstore has great brown basmati rice
Hi, ronke. My sis-in-law just informed me about your site and I think i’m in luv. Two questions
1. I want to do jollof rice with brown basmati rice, does the same procedure as above apply?
2. Is Naija tomato paste is different from plain tomato puree? Can either be used or both?
Thank you
Awwww… bless her for sharing. 1) yes it does. 2) Naija tomato puree (de-Rica) and America tomato paste are the same.
I know this is an old recipe but I just came across your blog and im very impressed. I’m a new cook who has never gotten jollof rice right. This recipe made it soooo easy and it came out perfect!! My boyfriend is also very happy. Thanks so much and keep up the good work.
Awwww.. this is amazing feedback. Thanks for the feedback.
Silly question but is ‘tomato paste’ the same as ‘tomato puree’ that comes in tins?
Thanks for the simple version, always thought jellof was complicated but it’s not really…
Yes it is thesame
what is the best way to warm the rice to serve. i made it last night for a gathering this evening and am not sure how to warm it tonight to serve.
oven, microwave or stove top
I tried this rice and loved it!
That’s awesome! thanks for the feedback
If you use white rice do you still have to soak it?
No, you do not.
Wow, this is the first recipe in seeing on hollow brown rice. I posted on a food sire asking for recipe and someone shunned me. I cook brown rice, so this is a.must try for me.
Do let us know how it turns out.
Please where can I gt brown rice&must I soak it in water even wen am cookn it normally.I stay in lagos
Shoprite or sofreshmarket. Yes, soaking the rice prior helps.
hello is white rice the same wt brown cz i still dont gt d difference
NO… Brown rice is unpolished rice….
Thanks for d jollof rice recipes, I tried it your way last week for kids lunch, in fact they couldn’t have enough. More wisdom your way dearie
That’s good to hear!
Please where can I get coconut oil for cooking in nigeria (Abuja ). I’ll be glad to get a positive response. Keep up d good work.
where do you live? if you are up for the adventure, here is a recipe on how to make your own oil : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-oxR1Gt5lQ
Pls ow do I form d rice to b shapy
Put the rice in a bowl, pat down with a spoon, turn the bowl over and lift gently.
I haven’t tried just tomato paste.I use tomato,tatashe and red pepper.I just want to know if they are of d same taste
very similar
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, the water content does appear quite low though. Is that really all I need? Ratio cups – 2.5 rice: 3 water. When cooking any white I use 1:2 (rice to water) and I find brown rice often requires more, of course I’ve never made brown rice jollof….just want to be sure before I make this special meal.
Yes, that’s all the water you need. Soaking the rice prior and cooking on low heat eliminates the need for more water
Is Brown rice the same as Ofada rrice? Because I bought one in the market, it don’t look brown but its short and some of it has a line of brown stripes on it.
Brown rice is regarded as brown because it’s unpolished. Ofada can be brown if the bran (a brown layer covering the rice) is still intact.
I needed this in my life….
Thanks for directing me to the brown rice version of your wonderful jollof recipe. I made it tonight and my family enjoyed it thoroughly, BUT the rice was just not as tender as when I make it with white rice. Does the temperature of the soaking water make a difference? Should the soaking water be quite hot? Any other tips for getting the rice nice and tender? I probably just need a few more passes at this to get it perfect, and then I’m pretty much never going back to white rice! Thanks in advance.
The texture of brown rice is definitely different from white, it’s a bit more chewy due to the gem being intact.
Nice recipe, looks delicious. Just to confirm, is the sauce for the chicken just ground chili mixed with honey?
Also, I have found that the addition of fresh tomatoes and spices can eliminate the need for the use of tomato paste and salt while preparing jollof rice. On the other hand, the oil content in tomato paste should be considered before adding coconut oil in the jollof rice. :)
great observations Nkem. yes, the chicken was basted with the sauce after normal preparation.
Is ofada rice same as brown rice?
If it’s unpolished then it’s a type of brown rice
this turned out just perfect. thanks!
Yeiiii.. thanks for trying the recipe
its nice to see new ways of doing things, how comes you just use tomato paste and no tin tomato, scotch bonnet and red peppers at all…does the tomato paste alone not have a tangy taste.Will love to try you method pls let me know xx
It doesn’t taste tart at all…. the tartness is eliminated in the frying process. The addition of fresh tomatoes at the end also helps.
Hallo,
This looks awesomely delicious! But please can you make videos of the food being cooked? I don’t mean to be selfish, but I personally learn better by watching , and not so well by reading instructions, especially instructions to be do with measurements of quantity of ingredients, and time of cooking, i mess those up a lot! So please do add videos, thanks, And awesome site you have either way, cheers to your deliciously good success!
We will definitely do more videos this year
I am just starting to eat brown Rice. I started a while ago but I hated it! but now I tried Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice and funny enough it tasted really well.
That’s good to hear, healthy eating is definitely a journey
This is a nice blog. keep it up. more strength Sist.
Thank you!
Nice blog
Thanks!
Looks very yummy….been a while I last came here….
se!! I need to visit your corner of the web.
The brand of brown rice matters o. Some taste like grass after boiling it. But, this looks delicious!
So, how about the pepper sauce on the chicken?
Lol… I never was a fan of brown rice but I am a convert. The pepper hen…. fresh chilli and honey.
Fresh chili and honey? Do you have a recipe for it? Your food blog is life.. Lol
sweet and spicy. I will add a recipe.
Yummy
Looks really good. Could you explain why you use foil ?
It’s so we keep all the steam in the pot to ensure the rice cooks evenly.