Jollof parsnip rice with pork - a West African dinner with a twist

Last year I set myself a food related new year's challenge, to try on average one new recipe every week and 52 in total that year. Full of excitement I hurried out to buy a new note book, in which to document the new tries. It was The Challenge Book.

It was so pretty, The Challenge Book, covered in flowers and it had sections for various kinds of food. The only problem with such a pretty book was that I didn't want to fill it with recipes that I never wanted to cook again and realising that, I had to change the challenge. Instead of 52 new tries, it had to be recipes that were good enough to keep.

To complete the challenge, which I did on the 30th December... a bit too close for comfort, I did a lot of research on Pinterest and scanned all sorts of food magazines for inspiration. If I remember correctly, I found the Jollof Rice recipe in Asda's monthly magazine. There was a problem though, the rice. Always on a mission to at least consider healthier alternatives, I wondered if it was possible to swap the rice for blitzed vegetables. Bear in mind that this was a dish based on rice and I wanted to change the change the main element. In the past, I had however successfully made an Indian biryani with blitzed parsnips, so I felt brave. It worked! We all loved it and could almost feel the waist shrinking with every bite.

When New Year called for a new resolution, I didn't want to simply continue with the same food challenge. Instead I decided to cook food from different countries, on average one new country every week. It didn't have to be a new recipe, simply pinned to a specific country. Imagine my surprise when I realised that Jollof Rice wasn't Indian like I had assumed, but West African. A popular dish in several countries, so I decided to dedicate it to Ghana. 

I believe the dish is often served as a spiced vegetarian rice dish, but I have made it with both chicken and pork. This is the pork version. Feel free to swap and make it with whatever you fancy.

With a nod to the person who wrote the recipe in Asda's magazine, here is my version. I'm using the original measurements here, but that doesn't mean I use them when I cooked the dish. I'm more of a 'bit of this, bit of that' kind of girl.

500 g parsnip (or other roots) rice

600 g pork shoulder steaks, cut into cubes

1 onion, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground ginger or 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 tsp paprika, smoked if you wish

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

chilli flakes to taste 

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

2 peppers, roughly chopped

salt & pepper

1. Prepare onion, garlic and ginger.

2. Soften onion in a little oil and add garlic, ginger and seasoning.

3. Prepare the meat and add it to the onion mixture.

4. Brown the meat.

My aim was to brown the meat, but it was quite watery, so I simply cooked it for a while.

5. Add tomato puree and mix well. Cook until the meat is half done.

6. Prepare the peppers.

7. Add the peppers and mix well. Allow the peppers to cook for a couple of minutes.

8. Add the chopped tomatoes and the crumbled stock cube and mix well.

9. Prepare the root rice. 

This time I used mainly parsnips and a turnip that looked sad and loney in the fridge. I often add a chunk of celeriac for extra flavour, but this day I didn't have any at home. Cauliflower rice in all its honour, but I find it gets too mushy in this dish, so I prefer more sturdy roots. I make my vegetable rice by blitzing it in a food processor. If you don't have one of those handy machines, you can roughly grate it instead. My food processor is small, so I can only make fairly small amounts, but it is generally enough for a family dinner.

10. Be patient.

11. The path test

If you used regular rice, it would have cooked with the meat and the sauce and you would have had to add stock, not only a stock cube. The rice would have soaked up the liquid while cooking, but because I opted for vegetable rice, I needed to wait until most of the tomato juices had reduced. Using the path test, I knew when it was time to add the rice. With a spoon, I made a path in the pan and when it didn't immediately close up, the time had come. 

If you add the vegetable rice too early, the meal turns into a gooey mess and eating slop isn't my idea of fun. Trust me. Been there, done that, got the stains on my t-shirt. Be patient. Wait. Wash up and clear up the kitchen. There is plenty of time. It will not turn into a dry dish that sticks in your throat. I promise, it won't and you will thank me later when the cooking debris is out of the way by the time you have eaten dinner and only have the plates and pan left to wash up.

12. Add the 'rice' and gently fold it into the meaty mixture. 

13. Allow a few short minutes for the roots to soak up the remaining liquid and warm through. It won't take long at all to cook and you want a little bit of bite anyway, unless you like food that you can eat through a straw. I don't.

14. Enjoy! Should you wish a little something extra, a drizzle of natural yogurt or sour cream will go well with the Jollof Rice.

This dish will keep in the fridge for a day or two and the flavours will only intensify when left to marry and mingle. In our house it has however only survived one night in the chilly darkness before the leftovers were devoured. It probably freezes well, but I have never tried.