Weekday Dinners – How to Cook Indomie 3 ways. Part 1: Indomie Jollof!!!

Based on the responses I received on my Lamb Indomie Noodle soup posted HERE. I am going to introduce you to three new ways of cooking with our favourite Indomie Noodles……I’m going to tell you a story of how my cooking of Indomie evolved into three ways

1. Indomie Jollof

2. Indomie Stir Fry

3. Indomie Carbonara

Would you believe I detested Indomie Noodles when it was first introduced to Nigeria? Yes I did, I really could not stand it, and it was probably because of the way it was prepared by most people. In boarding school it was cooked cold (yuck!!!!!), and eaten with Jollof rice, or just on its own. I never joined the brigade. Images of cooking Indomie and breaking a raw egg into the pot still makes my tummy gag when I remember how it looked. Images of Indomie with sardine poured into the pot and mashed around, oh dear. Then it was corned beef, or Geisha. Let me stop now. The only way I could tolerate it was eating it with boiled egg. Even at that, I did that to be polite when I was offered in someone else’s house. Now comes my baby brother and he fell in love with Indomie like most children. As big sis, I didn’t have a choice but to prepare his beloved Indomie. Yomi can eat Indomie on a tree. He’s almost out of his teenage years now and he still loves Indomie. It doesn’t help that, that’s all he can cook. Lol….

Indomie Jollof

Two things my brother loves to eat. Indomie and Jollof rice. We probably made enough Jollof rice in his childhood years to feed an army. Everything was Jollof rice and nothing else. To trick him into eating plain rice when nobody had the time to make Jollof rice, we would mix stew into a small pot to colour the rice. He caught on right about age 5 and said Mummy this is rice and stew not Jollof rice, you tricked me. So the idea for Indomie Jollof came to me from the days of tricking Yomi into eating plain rice. I had this almost finished pot of stew on my hands one day and a packet of Indomie, and the idea cropped up. Since then I have become an avid fan of Indomie. So, here is my Indomie Jollof. A quick and simple recipe for a Weekday dinner. It is so simple, it is ridiculous really.

So you’ll need:

2 packets of Indomie

1/4 Red Onion

1/2 clove of Garlic or shavings of Ginger* – optional

1 Ata Rodo

1 tablespoon Olive oil

2 cooking spoons of Stew

Meat/Fish/Chicken from the

A handful of chopped parsley or peas

Water

…….and that’s it.

Here’s How to

1. Dice the onion, the ata rodo and garlic or ginger if you intend to use, and set aside

2. In a saucepan, heat up the Olive oil and fry the diced ingredients for 1 minute. This is to help flavour the oil

3. Add a cup of water to the saucepan, followed by the stew and the Indomie seasoning – Yes you still need the seasoning because the stew has been diluted by the water.

4. Bring this to a boil and this will create a peppered stock.

5. Add your Indomie noodles and boil for 5 – 7 minutes. Just as you would normally, when it is done sprinkle in the parsley or the peas

…………and that’s it. The same process as making Jollof rice, but this time the pepper is from already prepared stew. Indomie cooks really fast, and the you added stew has increased the density of water so watch the noodles so it doesn’t burn. You will notice some of the richeness of the stew at the bottom of the sauce pan, so simply stir just before it’s done. Take it off the heat and Taste the Difference. Not your average Indomie Noodles eh?