I came across this dish courtesy of Food Network and I just loved the way it sounds. J-a-m-b-a-l-a-y-a. Like many Southern recipes, this dish has A LOT of ingredients. I remember making up the shopping list the first time I tried this and I kept thinking, ah, ah, just for one dish. It had better be worth it because Nigerian fried rice is not this exhaustive. You can say Jambalaya is soul food at its finest. It is not for the healthy eaters I’m afraid, but it is comfort food, something to indulge in. The next time the thought crosses your mind to make Fried Rice, can I tempt you to make Jambalaya instead? I hope you have your pen and paper ready or simply print out the list of ingredients because it is loooooooooong. Remember my Don Jazzy Stew post (HERE), I think Jambalaya is going to top that. Hence my term Designer Fried Rice!!!!
So you will need
Olive Oil
1 pound of spicy smoked Sausage – chorizo or andouille or kelbasa – any smoked sausage you can find
1/2 pound of thick cut smoked ham – optional for muslims
1 pound of deveined shrimp
1 red onion
1 celery stick
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper – tatashe
2 pieces of Ata Rodo – scotch bonnet or habanero pepper
2 – 3 tomatoes
2 cloves of Garlic
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
3 cans of chicken stock – if you have homemade chicken stock (preferred) this will be about 5 cups
3- 4 cups of rice
Bay leaves
Salt
Seasoning cubes – knorr chicken cubes preferred
2 stems of spring onions – scallions
1 handful of Parsley
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of butter
Phew! I hope I haven’t turned you off. Keep reading, a very very handy tip for cooking perfect rice is in the steps below. You will wonder how come you have never tried it before. Lol.
How to
1. As this dish has a lot of ingredients, your first step should be preparing all the ingredients. Once you have this out of the way, it will make the cooking process quicker. So, wash all you need to wash, chop all that needs to be chopped and set aside in plastic bowls within easy reach.
2. Heat up 1 cooking spoon of olive oil in a pot, and add the roundly cut sausages. Let this brown in the pan for 5 – 7 minutes. Take it out of the pot. Add the cubed ham into the pot and do the same.
3. Now you have this lovely flavoured oil, add the chopped onions, red and green bell pepper, celery and butter and fry until the vegetables have softened. Then add the chopped tomatoes, ata rodo, garlic and thyme and let it fry. The introduction of the tomatoes will create some liquid in the pan, simply let it fry till it evaporates and enjoy the aroma wafting from the pot.
4. Add the chicken stock and bring the contents to a boil, then add the washed rice, the browned sausage and ham and 3 bay leaves. Depending on the salt and seasoning content of the chicken stock, you may need to re-season. Once you are satisfied with the taste, bring this to a boil for 15 – 20mins
5. By now the rice would have absorbed the stock and a creamy sauce will be floating on top, then add the shrimp, roundly cut spring onions, chopped parsley and squeeze in lemon juice. Stir to spread the ingredients evenly, lower the heat to let it simmer.
Now comes my tip to ensuring that you don’t get soggy rice – this will work whether you are cooking jambalaya, fried rice, coconut rice or jollof rice. I learnt this from the “Iya Alase” that cook for large family functions at my grandma’s house.
6. Pull apart the seams of a supermarket plastic bag so as to make it flat or use a flat piece of foil and place it over the rice, tucking in at the edges to ensure that the rice is properly sealed. Why you may be wondering? This is to ensure that the rice cooks in its own steam when it simmers. A lot of people tend to burn rice when not cooked as plain boiled rice. In trying to top up the rice with water to prevent it from burning as the rice hasn’t completely cooked (and it has absorbed all the stock) you make it soggy. Over stirring rice also contributes to sogginess. By covering with a plastic bag or foil, no steam escapes, so the rice doesn’t dry out and it will soften and you’ll get the grains coming out tender and perfect without clumping together. Trust me, this works. This method has been working for decades. A bonafide “Iya Alase” (commercial party cook) trick.
7. Let the rice simmer for 10 minutes or slightly longer till it has absorbed all the stock. Stir and you are done. Remember to remove the bay leaves before serving.
………..and there you have it Jambalaya. Try it out, and you will be pleasantly surprised. You won’t refer by default to fried rice after you have tried this. So, go ahead and introduce your family and friends to Jambalaya. Children will definitely love saying it. Jambalaya, Jambalaya, Jambalaya.
Bon Appetite……..
We are ready and excited for all these new recepies you are about showing us. Summer will be so so interesting! Go girl..
Yes it will. I will be posting recipes every two days now
Hi Dunni,
Quick question: what’s an alternative for celery? So many meals I want to try but getting them here is not easy. And honestly, I don’t want to always have to spend N2000 on a pack of celery for every meal I want to try out.
I’m afraid there isn’t. If you can find celery salt or celery granules on the spice aisle in a supermarket, that’s your closest option.
Hi Dunni, Thanks for this recipe. I tried it out today and it is delicious. Hopefully my boys love it. Waiting on them to come home and try it. I went shopping for the ingredients yesterday and they were all curious about Jambalaya…lol kerp these cool recipes coming. Thanks.
Aaaaw, nice Ivory. Please let me know what your boys think. Children are very honest. I’ll be waiting for their feedback.
Hi! I got introduced to your blog through Bellanaija and I think you have a nice spin on recipes. I have tried this Jambalaya before–My favourite food network chef, Ina Garten made it once and it looked quite Nigerian so I gave it a go and frankly, I wasn’t wowed. I’ll try yours and see. I have a question though—do u parboil the rice before adding it to cook?
Hi Ownyee, Sorry to hear you did not like the Jambalaya from your first try. This one is 9ja style, so you’ll enjoy it. No I did not parboil it, just wash the rice properly with cold water till the water runs clear and you’ll be fine
l love jambalaya but when am a bit lazy I buy the boxed version. I know sounds crazy but I only need to soften green and red bell pepper,add the susage,shrimps and water! Tastes wonderful. Will try your recipe
Please try it and you won’t buy boxed anymore. it is quite simple. Tedious i know, with all the prep work but it is worth the trouble
Hi dunni i tried jambalaya from an eatry and I reali liked it even tho I had seen the recipe on food network but my question is this I intend to use basmati rice so how do I ensure that it doesn’t become soggy bcos I haven’t Cooked basmati rice before and I heard it gets soft quickly
I won’t advice you to use basmati rice at all. By the time you are done, the jambalaya will most likely resemble baby food. Long grain rice is best