Welcome to jebota’s kitchen section, where tradition meets modern flavour and come alive, where we trade recipes and create magic, where culinary skills are sharpened and one or two gossips are shared……I mean we all have stories to share in the kitchen, in this section we learn and unlearn, we taste, we create and we marvel at our masterpiece, like “oh it’s like a party in our mouth and every bit is celebration!”. Buckle up, as we take you on this culinary journey through favour, spices and stories. WARNING: This blog may cause excessive salivation, unplanned and spontaneous cravings, A sudden urge to book a ticket to Nigeria. Proceed with caution {and a full stomach, hehe}.

Traditional Recipes with A Modern Twist

From past blogs on our platform, we have described the uniqueness, history and importance of Nigerian food and ingredients and how it has attracted attention and tastes of all people worldwide. Now let’s get to the fun part- “the recipes”, we will show you how to take classic dishes and turn them into something new and exciting:

Recipe 1: Smoky Jollof Rice with a Spicy Kick:

Jollof rice is the most iconic dish in Nigerian cuisine. Have you tried making it but it keeps going south or it feels average compared to what you have had before in a famous restaurant. Let’s help take your jollof to the next level with a smoky spicy kick. Here’s what you will need:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of uncooked rice
• Vegetable oil
• 8 Fresh tomatoes
• 2 green peppers
• 2 red peppers
• 2 Onions chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• Bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Protein of choice {meat, turkey, fish, chicken}

Instruction:

• Wash your rice till the water is clear and leave it on the sieve
• Spice up your protein with spice & herbs cook till it’s done take it out, fry and save the meat broth.
• On your oven tray slice the fresh tomatoes, red and green pepper into 4, add garlic and on low heat allow it bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Take them out and blend to paste.
• Heat oil in a large sauce pan or pot over medium heat
• Add chopped onion and sauté until softened
• Add ginger cumin, smoked paprika, bay leaf, salt and pepper and stir for 1 minute
• Add the blended paste and fry under steady medium-high heat until the colour darken a little and tomato aroma is very intense
• Pour in your meat broth and a cup of water allow it to boil, taste to confirm salt taste
• Add your rice and stir, reduce heat to low, cover the top with a foil and pot cover to prevent heat escape until rice to cooked and liquid absorbed
• Fluff rice around with spoon and taste. Your jollof is ready to serve.

Recipe 2: Salad Dressing and fried plantain

Salad Ingredients

• Sliced white cabbage
• Sliced purple cabbage
• Grated carrot
• Cooked macaroni
• Chopped cucumber (please peel the back of cucumber to avoid bitter taste)
• Raison
• Sliced lettuce
• Corned beef(optional)
• Sliced boiled eggs

Dressing

On a soup plate

• Mayonnaise
• Evaporated milk
• Jebota’s date syrup{ buy here}
• Parsley flakes
• Dry grinded Cayenne pepper
• Lemon juice
• Mix properly

Mix salad and its dressing and its ready to serve.

Plantain:

• Wash your plantain, slice your plantain to size of choice
• Add vegetable oil on your frying pan on a medium heat, add plantain when oil gets hot and allow to brown evenly. {plantain needs attention and monitoring to avoid blackening}

And for today’s menu we have our protein of choice {fried, roasted or cooked}, our smoky spicy jollof, our salad dressing and plantain. A food dream come true. Enjoy!

If you recall in our process for making plantain, we didn’t add salt to it before frying, yes, Jebota also listen to Aproko Doctor’s teachings and at it please remember to check you blood pressure always and eat healthy with us too.

That’s a wrap for today. We hope you enjoyed this culinary journey through jebota’s kitchen with us as we have shown our flavour, creativity and community. Caio!