Jollof Rice and Chicken Drumsticks Recipe

@walkindsky Jollof - a rice dish from Nigeria. 🇳🇬🍛🤤 #foodtok #jollofrice #jollofchallenge ♬ love nwantiti (feat. Dj Yo! & AX'EL) [Remix] - CKay

Ingredients

8 chicken drumsticks
3 onions
1 sweet red pepper
1 tomato
1 habanero pepper (if you like it super spicy)
2-3 cloves of garlic
Fresh ginger
Tomato purée
500g Basmati rice
Turmeric
Ginger (spice)
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Garlic (spice)
Thyme
Jollof seasoning (replacement written further below)

My best friend shared this amazing recipe with me. And she got it from her Nigerian friends. Jollof rice and chicken drumsticks is a typical West African dish – and I’m sure you’ll fall in love with it right away!

Phase 1: The Preparation of cooked chicken drumsticks

Put the chicken drumsticks in the pot in which you’ll cook them.

Then add the following spices: salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, onion, thyme, curry, turmeric.

Cut onion, a bit of fresh ginger, and three cloves of garlic, then add them to the pot.

Add about 1 liter of water and simmer until cooked.

Phase 2: The Preparation of the sauce and rice

Chop one sweet red pepper, a tomato and an onion. If you like it hot and spicy – add a habanero pepper as well.

Put everything in a blender and add a bit of water.

Blend it real good!

Heat the oil in a pan and add half of the blended mixture. Fry the mixture, stirring constantly, until all the liquid has evaporated.

Heat the oil in another pan and fry the finely chopped onion. Add half a jar of tomato puree to the onion and fry everything together, stirring constantly.

After a few minutes, add the mixture from the first pot to the fried tomato and add Jollof spice,* thyme, curry, ginger, garlic, salt, a few bay leaves.

Stir until the mixture becomes quite thick, and add the broth from the cooked chicken, depending on the amount of rice.

IMPORTANT NOTE: this rice is not cooked, but conditionally speaking fried, so you need to put just enough liquid to soak it.

Stir well and cover, and leave to simmer for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.

If you can’t find Jollof seasoning, you can easily replace it with creating a mixture of:

Salt
Sugar
Onion
Ginger
Coriander
Thyme
Chili
Cinnamon
Bay leaf
Paprika
Yeast extract

Phase 3: Frying the Chicken Thighs

Add a lot of oil to the pan and fry the previously cooked chicken drumsticks in it.

Add oil to the pot and fry the rest of the tomato puree on it, and add the rest of the blended ingredients (paprika, tomato, onion). Season well with salt, pepper, ginger, curry, thyme.

After a few minutes, add the fried drumsticks to the sauce, and let it simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.

Phase 4: Serving the Jollof rice

Although it is not an absolute “must do” kind of thing, you can add chopped shallots to the rice to add a bit of freshness to it.

Normally, this rice is served with prepared chicken drumsticks, but you can replace them with any other meat you want. The method of preparation remains the same.

Yes, I know, it requires a large number of pots – it’s absolutely worth it! You will surely remember this explosion of spicy flavors for a long time.

About Me

I am an art historian turned content strategist who spends days exploring what makes people tick on all channels of communication.
I love making sense of data, exploring new AI tools and crafting compelling content that raises brand authority. This doesn’t really come as a surprise considering my background – Interwar propaganda art that earned her two MA degrees and articles in international scientific journals.
On the other hand - I am a passionate traveler addicted to exploring new cultures and international cuisine.