Can someone say about time, like seriously, about time. I love, love, love native jollof rice (iwuk edesi). Click HERE for the recipe. There is something about palm oil, crayfish, smoked fish and rice that just works. My grandmother’s smoked fish stew served with plain boiled rice would bring you to your knees. It is a recipe that I will only release in the cookbook. I keep talking about the cookbook a lot now, because I am living proof that when you start to say your thoughts out loud, they manifest faster. So, y’all are going to be hearing about the cookbook from now till I make a big announcement. hehehehehehe.
Notice the earthy colour tones of this rice dish. Proudly Nigerian
Anyways, this recipe came out from the last post on the Salsa. Click HERE. So many of you left comments about how easy making fried rice will be with having the Kenwood Dicing attachment to do all the dicing, and somehow, fried rice just stuck in my mind and I knew i was going to use the leftover salsa to make fried rice. It almost seemed too easy. After my 5K run yesterday, I got home and I was seriously starving, as always. I walked past my packet of Country rice which I bought from the Asian store (which is exactly Ofada rice, I tell you), and I thought hmmmmn Dunni, why don’t you use this rice for fried rice? Eating complex carbs are not advised after a work out, so that takes out white rice, but unpolished rice has far fewer calories and more fibre than white rice, and as soon as my brain locked in on that fact, I decided to go native full on with the fried rice. Let me tell you guys that when I started cooking it, I had no idea what I was going to do next. it all just came to me, and with writing this recipe, I am including a step which I thought of later in hindsight.
There is a certain earthiness about this dish, the colour, the flavour, the aroma, 100% Nigerian. Our fried rice technically isn’t Nigerian, like with dishes from all over the world, we too borrowed it from other cultures. Time we had ours too, don’t you think? Let’s cook
- 1 - 2 cups Ofada rice - depending on the number of people you are cooking for
- 2 handfuls of diced mix veg
- 3 tbs of ground crayfish - or more
- 1 tbs of dry pepper - or more depending on your tolerance for heat
- shredded pieces of smoked crayfish
- ½ cup smoked prawns
- chopped onions
- Salt
- Seasoning cubes
- Beef Stock - optional
- Vegetable oil - or your choice of plain cooking oil
- Give the rice a good rinse with cold tap water. Proceed to boiling it with salt, beef stock (if you have), smoked fish and smoked prawns. Make sure the quantity of water you use is just enough to almost cook the rice.
. I am using the recipe for my mother's fried rice which has gotten great reviews. (click HERE for her recipe). I assure you that this rice on its own will taste so great, you would want to eat it on its own, or pair it with a simple stew. Very earthy and yum. - Just before the rice is cooked to the al dente texture, heat up a little oil in a Wok, and add the chopped onions. Let is saute till almost translucent, then sprinkle in ground crayfish and fry it. Frying this crayfish contributes to the end colour of this dish, just the way curry powder contributes to our regular fried rice.
- Add the diced veg, salt and/or seasoning cube, a sprinkling of dry pepper and let it fry for about 2 minutes tops. . You will soon see that the dry pepper also adds an earthy colour to the veg. Like with mummy's fried rice recipe, don't cook the veggies for too long, so as to keep their integrity.
- Empty the contents of the rice pot into the wok. mix around with the veggies, to properly incorporate and let them all cook together until the rice is soft enough. You can add a little water to aid in the cooking of the rice, if the grains are still tough. If your rice is too white, i suggest you wait until the rice gets soft before you adjust, because the rice would darken and take on more of the colour of the crayfish and dry pepper as it cooks. If by then you are still not satisfied, then add a little more ground crayfish and dry pepper.
- Serve hot with your choice of protein. Trust me, your friends and family will empty their plates, sharply
. I am using the recipe for my mother's fried rice which has gotten great reviews. (click 
Frying this crayfish contributes to the end colour of this dish, just the way curry powder contributes to our regular fried rice.
. 
You will soon see that the dry pepper also adds an earthy colour to the veg. Like with mummy's fried rice recipe, don't cook the veggies for too long, so as to keep their integrity.
mix around with the veggies, to properly incorporate and let them all cook together until the rice is soft enough. You can add a little water to aid in the cooking of the rice, if the grains are still tough.
If your rice is too white, i suggest you wait until the rice gets soft before you adjust, because the rice would darken and take on more of the colour of the crayfish and dry pepper as it cooks. 
If by then you are still not satisfied, then add a little more ground crayfish and dry pepper.
Something new to try this weekend. I promise you, the feedback will be more than positive. Don’t forget to share the recipe, when people ask. Direct them to Dooney’s Kitchen. Your one stop shop for Nigerian recipes and more.
Wow! Am definitely going to try it. Can I use basmati or regular rice?
No seasoning, ofada rice. The bush girl in me wonder if that will taste nice but its you. I trust u
Cant wait to try this!
This an amazing blog. God bless you
Great,Dunni. I will definitely try this. Meanwhile have you ever tried an airfyer? Are they any good for our type of cooking?
no i haven’t yet. no space to store another kitchen gadget but i heard it works well
Another new one to try.i will be preparing this for my brother in law who is visiting tomorrow.Thank you Oladunni
You made me a star at my hubby’s birthday dinner yesterday. It was my first trial and not one grain of rice was remaining. I was so ecstatic that it looked so much better than yours (pardon my gloating), I forgot to take pictures. SMH. I did the ofe oha na egusi but subbed the oha with ugu and uziza. Also the irresistible-assorted-peppered-meats – I added scent leaves to it for a twist and it was the bomb. Paired with the rice or on its own with champagne was delish. Can’t wait for another occasion to show off my cooking skills. In fact I’m thinking there’s a hen party in the the nearest future for me, after all you don’t need a special occasion to host a party.
Keep cooking and pretty please publish a book like Mark Bittman – How to cook everything the basics. Complete with pictures. Sign me up. Seriously add my name to your list, I definitely want the first edition.
Lovely recipe as always. Thanks for the rice tip too, i want to be done with white rice.
Last night, I tried this. I didn’t have any smoked prawns but hubby loved it. Thanks Dooneyyyy!!!!!
Dunniiiiiiii , this dish is amazeballlllss. Biko which oil can be used as plain oil since canola oil has been getting a bad rep for some time now?
coconut oil is a good one, though pricey
Made this today despite d fact dat I ddnt hav all the ingredients. Used d regular rice too. it was superb. Sunday lunch was so on point. God bless Dooney’s Kitchen
One I never liked was cooking, but u making love it, I’ll try this one. Thank you dooney?