An oven-baked Nigerian jollof rice, generously shared by Sadella Khana via her cooking video1. A blended pepper mix does double duty — a quarter of it seasons the meat while it simmers, and the rest becomes the base of the stew. The rice then cooks in the oven using only the meat stock (no water!), sealed under plastic wrap and foil so it steams instead of burning.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Red Onions | 2, Plus 1 More For Frying |
| Habanero Peppers | About 10, Stemmed2 |
| Red Bell Pepper | 1 |
| Roma Tomatoes | 6 to 8 |
| Ginger | 2 Inches, Peeled and Cubed |
| Garlic | 4 to 5 Cloves |
| Anise Seeds | 1 Teaspoon |
| Meat | 2 to 3 Pounds, Cut For Stew (Goat In The Video)3 |
| Seasoning Cubes | 2 to 3 (Maggi or Onga) |
| Tomato Paste | About 3 Spoonfuls |
| Jasmine Rice | About 2 1/2 Cups, Washed4 |
| Neutral Oil | For Frying |
| Curry Powder and Dried Thyme | To Taste5 |
| Kosher Salt | To Taste |
| Baking Soda | A Small Pinch, Optional |
Instructions
- Roughly chop the onions and red bell pepper. Blend them with the habanero peppers, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, anise seeds, and a crumbled seasoning cube until mostly smooth.
- Put the meat in a pot, add about a quarter of the blend and some salt, and let it cook for about 5 minutes before adding water to cover. Simmer until tender — and save every drop of that stock, it cooks the rice later.
- Slice the remaining onion. In a large pot, fry it in hot oil for about 3 minutes.
- Add about 3 spoonfuls of tomato paste and let it fry for about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the rest of the blended peppers and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat, then cover and let it keep cooking down. Tip from the chef: add a little baking soda to get the sourness out while it’s cooking.
- Add your salt, another seasoning cube, and the spices — curry powder and dried thyme. Let the stew keep frying until the oil starts to separate.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. While it heats, fry the cooked meat in hot oil until browned, then add it to the stew.
- Stir in the washed jasmine rice.
- Add the reserved meat stock — no water. The rice cooks entirely in stock.
- Transfer everything to a foil pan so the rice doesn’t burn.
- Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, then foil, to keep the heat and steam in.
- Bake for 45 minutes, take it out and turn the rice around, then put it back in for another 30 minutes.
- Fluff, and serve it steaming.
That smoky, slightly charred bottom layer is not a mistake — it’s the best part.
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The video’s ingredient list reads: onions, habanero peppers, red bell pepper, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, anise seeds, meat (“I used goat”), Maggi seasoning, “spices seen in video.” Quantities marked here are estimated from what appears on screen — she cooks by feel, and you should too. ↩
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The video shows roughly ten small habaneros going into the blend, and this dish is meant to bring heat. Scale down to 1 or 2 if you want it gentler. ↩
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Bone-in goat or beef work best here — the bones make the stock that the rice depends on. ↩
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“About 2 and a half cups” per the video, with the caveat that she didn’t measure. Any long-grain rice works, but jasmine is what she used. ↩
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The video’s list just says “spices seen in video” — what’s shown on screen looks like curry powder and dried thyme, the classic jollof pair. ↩