Nigerian fried rice is one meal the majority of the in Nigeria and Africa enjoy, it is easy to make and delicious if prepared properly. A lot of people prefer fried rice for their occasions like birthday parties, weddings, seminars and etc. Fried rice goes with moi-moi, coleslaw.
There are steps you must take before cooking Nigerian fried rice; You must cut your vegetables, wash them before cooking them, like carrots, green beans, onions, you must also cook your protein, it could be chicken, beef or fish and fry them which is optional, most people like to fry them, anyways.
Ingredients for cooking Nigerian Fried rice.
- 3¾ cups (750g) long-grain parboiled rice
- Vegetable Oil
- Chicken (whole chicken or chicken drumsticks)
- 100g cow liver
- 1 tablespoon Nigerian curry powder (NOT Indian Curry)
- ½ cup green beans
- 3 carrots
- Salt (to taste)
- 3 onions
- 3 stock/boullion cubes
- 1 tablespoon thyme
These are the ingredients for fried rice. The ingredients are used according to the quantity of rice you wish to make, you increase or reduce them based on the rice.
How to cook Nigerian fried rice
- Parboil the rice using the method detailed in parboiling rice for cooking fried rice. Well-parboiled rice ensures that the grains of the rice will not stick together when the rice is done. Rinse the parboiled rice with cold water and put in a sieve so all the water drains out.
- Pour the chicken stock into a sieve to remove all traces of onions, thyme, etc used in cooking the chicken. Pour the stock into a pot and set to boil. Once the water boils, add the parboiled rice. Also, add 1 tablespoon of plain yellow curry powder, then add salt to taste. The plain yellow curry powder is merely for coloring so should not contain chili.
- The water level should be slightly less than the level of the rice; at most it should be at the same level as the rice. This is to ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked and that the rice is not overcooked. This is the quantity of water that will cook the rice and the grains will not stick together. Stir the contents; cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way the rice does not burn before the water dries up.
- Once the water has dried up, the rice should be cooked perfectly. Perfect fried rice is one that the grains that are separated from one another, resistant to the bite but not hard.
- Now, transfer the rice to a casserole dish or another pot to help cool it down quickly. Again, this is essential to keep the grains from sticking to each other. If left in the original hot pot, the rice will continue to cook and eventually stick together.
- At this point, it is advisable to divide the vegetables into say 4, 5, or even 6 equal parts. The rice will be fried in batches so this number depends on the quantity of rice you can comfortably fry in the pan or pot. Also, divide the cooked rice and the diced cow liver into the same number of equal parts.
- Now pour a small amount of vegetable oil into a frying pan. This quantity of oil should be such that it would be absorbed by 1 part of the cooked rice and 1 part each of the vegetables.
- Add more salt if necessary. More curry powder may also be added at this stage if you need to touch upon the color. Stir till all the ingredients have mixed well and transfer to a dry pot. Repeat this for the remaining batches of the ingredients.
