JAMBALAYA RICE

Jambalaya rice is a popular West Africa dish with French and Spanish influence. It is very similar to jollof rice but prepared using meat and vegetables mixed with rice. Traditionally, the meat always includes sausage of some sort, often a smoked meat such as andouille, along with chicken and seafood, such as fresh crawfish or shrimp. The vegetables could be celery, onion, bell peppers, which is usually referred to as the holy trinity in Cajun cooking. Other vegetables such as tomatoes, okra, carrots, chili and garlic are also used in making this dish.

There are two major methods of making jambalaya rice which is differentiated by their origins and the presence or absence of tomatoes. The Cajun jambalaya contains no tomatoes, but Cajun seasoning and other ingredients. While The Creole jambalaya (Red Jambalaya) contains tomatoes, Creole seasoning and other ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooking oil
• 500g chicken breast, boneless
• 300g chicken sausage, thinly sliced into rounds
• 300g prawn
• 5 plum tomatoes
• 5 medium-sized chilli peppers
• 2 green bell peppers (you can also use a mixture of red, yellow e.t.c)
• handful celery, chopped
• 1 medium-sized onion
• a bunch spring onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 2 tablespoons creole or cajun seasoning

Cooking Instructions

1. Mix the deveined prawns with some sprinkled salt. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the minced garlic. Gently add the salted prawns and leave to sauté for 2-3 minutes on both sides before removing from the pan.
2. Season the sausage and chicken pieces with Cajun seasoning or creole seasoning. Saute sausage until browned. Remove with slotted spoon, and set aside. Saute chicken pieces until lightly browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
3. Pour the remaining oil into the pot then add the chopped onion. Fry till translucent for 2 minutes then add the ground tomato and pepper paste. Leave to fry for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock, Creole or Cajun seasoning, bay leaf (if using any), and stir to combine. Add the washed rice into the pot and spread it within. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low then leave to cook for about 20-25 minutes or until the liquid in the pot is almost dried up.
4. Add the bell peppers, celery, spring onion, cooked chicken and sausage. Stir to combine, then add the prawns and sprinkle with extra celery.
5. Cover the pot, reduce the burner to the lowest and leave to steam cook for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed before turning off the burner. Discard the bay leaf and your jambalaya rice is ready.

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