Nigerian Coconut Rice is a delicious and fragrant dish that’s easy to prepare. Here’s a recipe to make Nigerian Coconut Rice:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of long-grain rice
- 1 can of coconut milk (400ml)
- 1 cup of water
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon of curry powder
- 1 teaspoon of thyme
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
- 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
Instructions
-
- Rinse the rice in cold water to remove excess starch and drain.
- In a pot or large saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and minced garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
- Add the curry powder and thyme to the pot and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and water and stir to combine. Add the salt, black pepper, and whole scotch bonnet pepper (if using) and stir to combine.
- Add the rinsed rice to the pot and stir to combine with the coconut milk mixture.
- Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the rice to absorb any remaining moisture.
- Fluff the rice with a fork and remove the scotch bonnet pepper (if used). Sprinkle chopped cilantro over the top and serve hot.
Enjoy your delicious Nigerian Coconut Rice
Step B
Nigerian Coconut Rice Recipe
This Nigerian food is called the Jollof Rice with a twist! It feels good to see the looks on your guests’ or friends’ faces when they think you are serving them the good old Jollof Rice but bam, the moment the first spoon enters the mouth, you are sure to get the looks of pleasure! It makes you feel good, doesn’t it?
How to Cook Coconut Rice [Video]
White Coconut Rice
Yes, it looks the same as the Jollof Rice you know but the aroma and taste is different. Why don’t you surprise your guests tonight by preparing this easy dinner recipe?
This recipe is for Jollof Coconut Rice, there’s another version of coconut rice known as the White Coconut Rice.
The following are other variations of Jollof Rice:
Beef Mince Jollof Rice
Smoky Party Jollof Rice without Firewood
Leafy Jollof Rice
Classic Party Jollof Rice
Mixed Vegetable Jollof Rice
Rice and Beans
Ingredients
- 3 cigar cups | 750g long grain parboiled rice
- 500mls Tomato Stew
- 600 mls Coconut Milk
- Chicken (whole chicken or drumsticks)
- Chilli pepper (to taste)
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 medium onions
- 3 stock cubes
- 1 tablespoon thyme
Before you cook Coconut Rice
- Prepare the tomato stew if you don’t have some in the freezer. Visit the Tomato Stew page for details on how to do that. It is advisable to prepare tomato stew before hand and keep in the freezer. This is so that whenever you want to cook any jollof rice related dish, it is just a matter of adding it to your cooking.
- If you will use whole chicken, wash and cut the whole chicken into pieces. Place the pieces in a pot; add water till it just covers the pieces of chicken, add the chopped onions, stock cubes and thyme and start cooking. The cooking time depends on the type of chicken. The rooster or cockerel cooks much faster than the hen but the hen is tastier.Cooking till done and add salt to taste. Put the pieces of chicken in a sieve to drain, then fry with vegetable oil. You can also grill it in an oven. This is to give it a golden look which is more presentable especially if you have guests for dinner. Read how to season and grill chicken for more one this.
- Now is the time to extract the coconut milk. This is quite an easy task if you follow the procedure detailed in How to Extract Coconut Milk. Set the coconut milk aside.
- Parboil the rice using the method detailed in parboiling rice for cooking coconut rice. Wash the parboiled rice and put in a sieve to drain.
Cooking Directions
- Now we need a pot big enough to accommodate the rice till it is done. Bear in mind that the rice will normally rise by at least one quarter of its quantity from the parboiled state to the done state.
- Pour the chicken stock, coconut milk and the tomato stew into the selected pot. Set on the stove to boil. Add the drained parboiled rice, salt and pepper to taste. If necessary, top up with water to bring the water level to the same level as the rice. This is to ensure that all the water dries up by the time the rice is cooked.
- Cover the pot and leave to cook on medium heat. This way the rice does not burn before the water dries up.
If you parboiled the rice as described at parboiling rice for cooking coconut rice, the rice should be done by the time the water is dry. Confirm that the rice is done by tasting it. That’s the way coconut rice is cooked.
Serve with Fried Plantain, Nigerian Moi Moi, Nigerian Salad or Coleslaw.
If you have any questions about preparing Coconut Rice, click here to ask me.