Cameroonian Jellof Rice is a traditional Cameroonian recipe for a classic one-pot dish of rice cooked in a tomato and bell pepper base with meat stock, spices, oil and green spice marinade. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Cameroonian version of: Cameroonian Jellof Rice.
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This one-pot dish is the Cameroonian version of the dish known elsewhere in West Africa and Jollof Rice. This dish is a celebration recipe that's typically served on Christmas Day, New Year's day and for birthday parties.
Ingredients:
1.2kg Parboiled Rice
6 Large, Fresh, Tomatoes de-seeded and blended to a Purée
2 tbsp Tomato purée
120ml Cameroonian all-purpose green spice marinade
3 Red Bell Peppers, cored and Puréed
4 Medium Carrots, Chopped
200g Green Beans, Chopped
½ tsp Curry Powder
½ tsp ground White Pepper
½ tsp ground star Anise
250ml Cooking Oil
500g Beef, Cubed
Bouillion powder to taste
Method:
Wash the meat and set in a pan. Add salt, bouillon powder and 1.5l of water. Mix well and cook on medium heat until the meat is done (about 20 minutes).
Once the meat is cooked remove from the pan with tongs and set aside. Also set the pan aside for the stock to cool.
Set a clean pan over medium heat (a cast iron casserole/Dutch oven is geed here). Add oil and when hot use to fry the meat until golden brown. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
Stir the tomato purée into the oil left in the pan then stir in the puréed fresh tomato and bell pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook the tomato and bell pepper mixture, stirring intermittently to prevent it from burning. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes, until the tomato is no longer raw.
Wash the parboiled rice in several changes of water until the water runs clear (this is important as removing the excess starch is what ensures the rice grains separate in the finished dish).
Add the rice to the pan with the tomato mixture, then mix well to combine. Now mix in the
curry powder, white pepper, anise powder, the Cameroonian All-purpose Green Spice Marinade, and the reserved beef cooking stock. Adjust the seasoning and flavour with salt and bouillon powder, then mix troroughly for all the ingredients to combine.
Cover the pot with a layer of parchment paper//kitchen foil then set the pan’s lid on top. Allow the pan ingredients to cook over medium heat.
Keep a close eye on the rice whilst it’s cooking and add 200ml water at time, as needed, until the rice is 80% cooked.
At this point stir the carrots, green beans and beef into the pan then re-cover as directed above.
Set the heat to low for the rice to finish cooking; and for green beans and carrots to be crisp-tender.
When the ingredients are cooked, fluff the rice with a fork, ensuring that the carrots, green beans and beef are evenly distributed in the rice.
Turn into a serving bowl and serve accompanied by your choice of meat.
