Brown Rice Jollof (Vegan Friendly)

📝 Ingredients

• 2 small onions 1 finely chopped (1 cut into quarters)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 large thumb size of ginger
• 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
• 3 medium-sized fresh tomatoes
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp of curry powder
• 2 tsp each of garlic and onion powder
• 1 veggie bouillon cube
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp anise seeds
• 2 tsp fresh thyme you can use 1 tsp of dried thyme instead
• 3 1/4 cups of short grain brown rice.
• 2 cups of water total (Can sub for mushroom broth if you want)
• Salt to taste

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Please make sure to read the frequently asked questions before preceding.
2. 2In a pot, at medium heat, saute the chopped onions till brown
3. 3While the onions are browning, blend the whole onions, garlic, ginger, scotch bonnet pepper, red bell pepper and tomatoes in 1/4 cup of water
4. 4Add in the tomato paste and cook for a few minutes
5. 5If the pot is getting dry, add a splash of water
6. 6Once the tomato paste has fried for a few minutes, add in the blended tomato mixture and the spices. Mix everything well
7. 7You will then add 1 cup of water to the sauce, cover the pot, and let it cook at medium heat for 20 minutes.
8. 8As the stew is about to get to the 20-minute mark, rinse the rice very very well. It has a lot of starch, which can make it very sticky. Rinsing out the starch is important.
9. 9At the 20 minute mark, mix the rice into the stew. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly. Add 3/4 cup of water then cover the pot well.
10. 10Let the rice come to a boil for about 5 minutes, then cover with parchment paper.
11. 11Turn the heat to low and let the rice cook for 50 minutes. Yes, I know it is a long time but we are using brown rice and we are trying to concentrate the Jollof flavour
12. 12Halfway through, mix the rice so that the bottom does not burn. Taste to make sure it is cooking, then cover again for it to finish cooking.
13. 13After 50 minutes, check on the rice to see if it is cooked. If not, give it a few minutes.
14. 14Once the rice is done, let it cool down a bit before serving. The rice might feel a bit sticky, just because of the nature of this rice, but when it cools down it will be perfect