In this post, I will explore two styles of jollof rice recipes – Nigerian & Ghanaian. My brother recently started working with some Ghanaians, who wouldn’t stop raving about Ghana jollof rice. He wanted to know the differences between Nigerian (Naija) jollof and Ghana jollof, and so I thought I’d write this post for him and other people asking the same question.
Both Nigerian and Ghana jollof rice are delicious. A penchant for one or the other depends on what people are used to and their personal preferences. Also, like most dishes, no two jollof recipes are the same. There will always be differences depending on who is making it and where.
What Is Jollof Rice?
This orange one-pot rice dish from West Africa needs no introduction to most people. It is one of the most popular recipes from West Africa. There is the ongoing “war” about which tastes better between Nigerian and Ghanaian jollof rice; and who could forget Jamie Oliver’s “jollofgate”. We take jollof rice very seriously. There is even an International Jollof Day!
Jollof is prepared by cooking rice in a rich tomato sauce with spices and stock, with all the flavours melded together to create a delightful eating experience. It can be cooked with meat, fish and vegetables; and served at festivals, parties and get-togethers - In Nigeria, we say, “no party is complete without jollof”. This dish is so loved that the flavours and name are carried on to other dishes – Native (palm oil) jollof rice, jollof spaghetti, jollof beans etc.
History Of Jollof Rice
Before Nigerian and Ghanaian jollof came to be, there was Wolof. Jollof is a modification of Wolof, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania.
It is believed that jollof rice originated from this region, where it is known as benachin or thieboudienne and cooked with fish and vegetables. The recipe and name changed to adjust to local ingredients and taste as the dish travelled across the West African region. It is called jollof in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone etc, but when you move to French-speaking countries like Burkina Faso, Cote d’ Ivore and Benin, it becomes riz au gras.
Differences Between Nigerian & Ghana Jollof
Nigerian and Ghanaian jollof rice use mostly similar ingredients but have different flavour profiles.
Nigerian jollof rice is cooked with long-grain parboiled rice, with the main spices being curry powder, thyme, white pepper and bay leaves. It is served with meat and other sides like fried plantain, Nigerian salad, coleslaw, moimoi etc.
The Ghanaians prefer perfumed Thai jasmine rice, with a distinct aroma, which is one of the big points of differentiation of this jollof dish. Ghanaian jollof usually includes more spices than the Nigerian rice recipe; for example, ginger and garlic are blended into the pepper mix. Asides from curry powder, it could also be cooked with one or more of nutmeg, turkey berry, anise, Rosemary, bay leaves etc, as well as mixed vegetables. Ghana jollof rice is served with shito as a topping, and fried plantain, meat or fish as sides.
How To Make Nigerian Jollof Rice
Here are the ingredients you need...
- Red bell pepper
- Tomatoes
- Onion
- Scotch bonnet pepper
- Sunflower oil
- Tomato paste/puree
- Mild curry powder
- Dried thyme
- Bay leaves
- Chicken stock
- Chicken stock cubes
- Sella/Golden basmati Rice
- Salt
How To Make It...
Wash the tomatoes and peppers. Remove the stalk from the peppers. Peel the onions. Wash the rice under a cold tap until the water runs clear, and drain in a colander.
Cut one onion into quarters and add into a blender. Add three tomatoes, red bell pepper and scotch bonnet pepper, then add half a cup of water and liquidize until smooth. Keep aside.
Chop the remaining onion. Slice the remaining tomatoes thinly.
Heat the oil in a pan under medium heat, then pour the chopped onions. Cook until the onions start to brown.
Add the blended pepper mix, curry powder, thyme, bouillon cubes, and bay leaves into the pan—Cook for 20 mins making sure to stir occasionally. Then add the tomato paste and the sliced tomatoes. Reduce the heat and allow simmer until the moisture reduces significantly and the oil separates to settle on the surface. This sauce is key to getting the jollof right; this is where the jollof flavours and aroma develop.
Bring back the heat to medium. Add the washed rice and the stock, then add two cups of water and taste for salt. Cover the pot.
Allow the rice to boil, then reduce the heat slightly. Check the rice after 15 mins; if there is still liquid on top of the rice, place the lid back on. Check again after 5 mins, repeat until most of the liquid at the top is absorbed, and you can see the rice.
Stir through with the wooden spoon and reduce the heat to lowest for the remaining sauce in the rice to be absorbed. Continue to check and stir every 5 mins until all the liquid is absorbed.
If you find the rice is still hard, but there is no liquid in the pot, don’t add any more liquid. Cover the rice with a foil sheet before placing the lid on the pot. Reduce the heat to the lowest and allow the steam to build up inside the pan to cook the rice. Open the pot occasionally to stir the rice. Remove from heat when the rice is cooked, and all the sauce is absorbed. Stir through with a wooden spoon and cover for a few minutes before serving.
How To Make Ghana Jollof Rice
Here are the ingredients you need...
- Red bell pepper
- Tomatoes
- Onion
- Scotch bonnet
- Garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Sunflower oil
- Tomato paste/puree
- Mild curry powder
- Nutmeg
- Bay leaves
- Chicken stock
- Chicken Stock cubes
- Thai Jasmine Rice
- Salt
How To Make It...
Wash the tomatoes and peppers. Remove the stalk from the peppers. Peel the onions and the garlic cloves. Wash the rice under a cold tap until the water runs clear, and drain in a colander.
Cut one onion into quarters and add into a blender. Add the tomatoes, red bell pepper, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic and ginger, then add half a cup of water and liquidize until smooth. Keep aside.
Chop the remaining onion.
Heat the oil in a pan under medium heat, then pour the chopped onions. Cook until the onions start to brown.
Add the tomato paste and reduce the heat. Use a wooden spoon to stir while it fries for 5 mins.
Raise the heat to medium. Pour two cups of the blended peppers mix into the pan. Add the curry powder, nutmeg, and bay leaves, then sprinkle in the stock cubes. Mix well with a wooden spoon and allow to cook while stirring occasionally. Cook until the moisture has reduced significantly and the oil has settled on the surface. This will take at least 20 mins.
Add the chicken stock and mix the rice into the pan. Then add 1 cup of water, taste for salt and add more if needed. Allow the rice to come to a boil, then reduce the heat. Place a sheet of aluminium foil over the rice, then cover the pan.
Check after 10 mins and stir the rice with a wooden spoon. Repeat more frequently the until the rice is cooked through and has absorbed all the sauce. This will take at least 30 mins.
Remove from heat, stir with a wooden spoon, put the lid back on and leave for a few minutes before serving.
A few notes about the ingredients
- Rice: Use Thai Jasmine rice for Ghana jollof rice and any long-grain parboiled rice for Nigerian jollof rice. I always use golden basmati rice for Nigerian jollof and most other rice dishes where you need the rice grains to be separate and not sticky. I can’t sing the praises of this rice enough – it cooks very well with fluffy grains, and it is hard to make grains go mushy.
- Scotch bonnet peppers: Substitute with other hot peppers like Thai red chilli, bird eye chilli and habanero. Scotch bonnet peppers add heat to the jollof rice, and you can add more or omit depending on your heat tolerance.
- Curry powder: Nigerians use Lion curry powder for jollof. I found that the “mild curry powder” sold in most major supermarkets is close enough and works well for Ghana and Naija jollof.
Recipe Notes & FAQ
The smokiness from party jollof comes the firewood, which is used for cooking rice in large quantities. You can replicate the effect by using a stainless steel pan. The rice at the bottom of the pan will stick to the pan and burn in the cooking process. Using a non-stick pot reduces the sticking and hence the burning, while using a pan without non-stick coating will heighten the burning and create a smoky effect.
The aluminium foil is to trap the steam in the pot to facilitate steaming until the jollof rice is cooked without the need to add extra liquid. Thai jasmine rice goes very quickly from cooked to mushy, so it is essential to do this earlier when cooking Ghanaian jollof rice.
Related Recipes
You can serve jollof rice with;
Jollof Rice Two Ways – Nigerian and Ghanaian
Ingredients
Nigerian Jollof
- 2 Red bell peppers
- 5 Tomatoes
- 2 Onions
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
- ½ cup Sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoons Tomato paste/puree
- 1 teaspoon Mild curry powder
- ½ Dried thyme
- 2 medium Bay leaves
- 1 cup Chicken stock
- 2 cubes Chicken stock cubes
- 2 cups Golden Basmati Rice or any long-grain parboiled rice
- Salt
Ghana Jollof
- 1 Red bell peppers
- 4 Tomatoes
- 2 Onions
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
- 2 Garlic
- Fresh ginger – thumb size thumb size
- ½ cup Sunflower oil
- 3 tablespoons Tomato paste/puree
- 1 teaspoon Mild curry powder
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- 2 medium Bay leaves
- 1 cup Chicken stock
- 2 cubes Chicken Stock cubes
- 2 cups Thai Jasmine Rice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Nigerian Jollof
- Wash the tomatoes and peppers. Remove the stalk from the peppers. Peel the onions. Wash the rice under a cold tap until the water runs clear, and drain in a colander.
- Cut one onion into quarters and add into a blender. Add three tomatoes, red bell pepper and scotch bonnet pepper, then add half a cup of water and liquidize until smooth. Keep aside.
- Chop the remaining onion. Slice the remaining tomatoes thinly.
- Heat the oil in a pan under medium heat, then pour the chopped onions. Cook until the onions start to brown.
- Add the blended pepper mix, curry powder, thyme, bouillon cubes, and bay leaves into the pan—Cook for 20 mins making sure to stir occasionally. Then add the tomato paste and the sliced tomatoes. Reduce the heat and allow simmer until the moisture reduces significantly and the oil separates to settle on the surface.
- Bring back the heat to medium. Add the washed rice and the stock, then add two cups of water and taste for salt. Allow the rice to boil, then reduce the heat slightly. Check the rice after 15 mins; if there is still liquid on top of the rice, place the lid back on. Check again after 5 mins, and repeat until most of the liquid at the top is absorbed, and you can see the rice.
- Stir through with the wooden spoon and reduce the heat to lowest for the remaining sauce in the rice to be absorbed. Continue to check and stir every 5 mins until all the liquid is absorbed.
- Stir through with a wooden spoon and cover for a few minutes before serving.
Ghana Jollof
- Wash the tomatoes and peppers. Remove the stalk from the peppers. Peel the onions and the garlic cloves. Wash the rice under a cold tap until the water runs clear, and drain in a colander.
- Cut one onion into quarters and add into a blender. Add the tomatoes, red bell pepper, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic and ginger, then add half a cup of water and liquidize until smooth. Keep aside.
- Chop the remaining onion.
- Heat the oil in a pan under medium heat, then pour the chopped onions. Cook until the onions start to brown.
- Add the tomato paste and reduce the heat. Use a wooden spoon to stir while it fries for 5 mins.
- Raise the heat to medium. Pour two cups of the blended peppers mix into the pan. Add the curry powder, nutmeg, and bay leaves, then sprinkle in the stock cubes. Mix well with a wooden spoon and allow to cook while stirring occasionally. Cook until the moisture has reduced significantly and the oil has settled on the surface. This will take at least 20 mins.
- Add the chicken stock and mix the rice into the pan. Then add 1 cup of water, taste for salt and add more if needed. Allow the rice to come to a boil, then reduce the heat. Place a sheet of aluminium foil over the rice, then cover the pan.
- Check after 10 mins and stir the rice with a wooden spoon. Repeat more frequently until the rice is cooked through and has absorbed all the sauce. This will take at least 30 mins.
- Remove from heat, stir with a wooden spoon, put the lid back on and leave for a few minutes before serving.
Hey Abi, thanks for your recipe however let me show you another quick way to make your shito. Blend and onions, ginger, garlic pepper (powdered pepper) together and put it on the fire and allow to cook for about 10 - 15 mins. It helps to get the liquid out and when is thickened then you can add your oil and let it cook for another 15mins you can now add your dry fish and scrimp and salt. Allow it to cook for another 5 - 8 mins so the colour will darken.
My shit can last for year the secret is making sure all liquid has been removed and it will last longer without refrigeration.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Your Jollof Rice recipe is simply amazing! The detailed instructions and thoughtful write-up made it easy to follow, and the flavors were absolutely on point. I can tell you put a lot of care into perfecting this dish, and it truly shines through. Thank you for sharing such a delicious and well-crafted recipe!
That's very kind, thank you Zainab. I'm glad you like it.
Good evening, I love African food and have been to Ghana,South Africa Korea, Japan and Sierra Leone. I had many Ghanian friends who have moved away from my area or moved back home.
I live by myself but, would like to make some of the dishes for my American friends but, I am afraid it won’t taste like the African’s make it but, I will definitely give it a try 🤗
Hey Sandy! I say give it a try. That's the only way to find out. Also, feel free to adapt the recipes to what you like - the most important thing is for you to enjoy your meal.