Native Jollof Rice

In Africa especially Nigeria, rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza glaberrima (African rice), (photo: L-R Oryza rice & white rice) As a cereal grain, it is one of the most widely consumed staple food in Nigeria.

Since a large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one-fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans.

Prior to the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) most Nigerians were familiar and associated rice with the dish: ‘Rice and Stew’.

However, in the villages and hamlets of Nigeria’s countryside, rice had always been cooked in the native or African way.

We shall concern ourselves in this article with the older rice recipe as employed by mothers and grandmothers in the villages and hamlets of Nigeria.