Let the Recipes Begin!!

This is Sheila. I don't know her last name and I probably wouldn't be able to remember it anyway. She is a good friend and an excellent cook I think! At least to Craig she makes the best Jolif Rice ever! So without further adeu (did I spell that right? Just ignore all mispelled words because I really don't care about that right now.)

Sheila's Jolif Rice

(okay so if this is confusing to you just email me your questions. I'll try to explain the best that i can)

Feeds about 10 people and enough extra jolif rice for another 5

About 50 tomatoes, quartered (they use a bucket to measure things here, I had to count them)

11 pepe peppers (to taste. Ghanaians like their food SPICY and I don't so this is very mild. If you want heat then load up on these little babies)

1/4 c. ginger (or a small fist full), peeled and chopped

11 garlic cloves (or a fist full), peeled

3 large purple onions, sliced

6 lbs. of chicken, bone-in/skin-on, chopped in big pieces with fat cut off

3 Tb. anis powder

2 Tb. chicken stock powder (about 2 cubes)

1 Tb. salt (to taste) + more for red sauce and jolif

vegetable oil for frying and to saute

4 small green peppers, chopped in 1 in. pieces or smaller

6 Tb. (heaping) shrimp powder (can someone please tell me if you can find this stuff back home)

3 Tb. curry powder (or more to taste)

7 oz. (210 g) canned tomato paste

1 lg. bunch of spring onions, chopped in 1 in. pieces

5 carrots, diced

9 c. rice (Thai rice is best or so they say)

6 c. water + more depending on rice and how fast it's cooking

aluminum pot for cooking jolif rice (it will burn if you don't have one)

CHICKEN

In a food processor, puree 1 1/2 onion, garlic, ginger, and pepe peppers. Put chicken in large pot and cover with water and start boiling. (They boil the chicken before they fry it to keep it moist and soft after frying.) Pour puree mixture on top of chicken and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock powder and mix. Then add 1 Tb. salt (you can add more if you want). Simmer 30-45 minutes or until chicken is soft to the touch. While this is simmering, chop for veggies for the jolif rice and red sauce. After the chicken is soft, strain the chicken to remove any excess water from chicken. Pour excess water back into pot. Set chicken aside until ready for frying. Set puree liquid aside to use in sauces.

RED SAUCE

In a food processor, puree tomatoes. Saute 1/2 of one onion in oil for about 10-15 minutes. Make sure there is enough oil to coat the pan. Pour half of the tomato puree in with the onions. Pour about 1/4 of the pepe pepper water mixture into the tomato/onion mixture. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add 1/3 of the tomato paste to mixt. and stir. Then add 2 (heaping) Tb. shrimp powder and 1 Tb. curry powder and stir. Then add 2 chopped green pepper to sauce. Also add about 1/2-1 Tb. salt and stir. Taste to see if needs more salt. Simmer for another 20 minutes or until the water is dry. (this was the expression she used. I just loved it. it means until it is really thickened.) Always check on sauce to periodically stir it. (This red sauce is so good and it's also used with other dishes as well. The beginning steps of this sauce is the base for many of the dishes in Ghana. You just do it all do a certain point and then with all the other dishes you vary in adding the final ingredients.) While the sauce is simmering, it would be a good idea to start frying the chicken.

To fry the chicken, she used her aluminum pot and poured a ton of oil in it so that there was about 1 1/2 - 2 in. of oil in pot. Fry the chicken in batches.

JOLIF RICE

When chicken is done frying, use the aluminum pot to make the jolif. Dump out most of oil and leave enough in to saute some onion. Saute 1 onion for about 10-15 minutes. Add the other half of the tomato puree and the rest of the pepe pepper water mixture. Simmer for 15 mintues and then add the rest of the tomato paste. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add 4 (heaping) Tb. of shrimp powder, 2 Tb. curry powder, and 1/2-1Tb. salt (to taste). Simmer until the water is dry, about 20-30 more minutes. After water is dry then add the rice. (DO NOT add rice until the sauce has thickened!) Stir. Add 6 c. water and more salt to taste and then stir. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20-30 minutes. (Be sure to watch the rice. You will most likely have to add small amounts of water to the rice without stirring to keep it from burning.) After it has simmered, add chopped carrots, 2 chopped green peppers, and the spring onion. Stir. Add a small amount of water and continue cooking until rice is soft about 10-15 more minutes.

**You can add other veggies to jolif like cabbage, peas, or beans, etc. and can eat jolif with fried fish, corned beef, etc.

This may seem confusing and I'm even still a little confused myself, but the more you make it, the better you will become with the timing. I haven't made it yet by myself. But you can bet it was sooooo good. It won't take so long if you make things at the same time. Start the red sauce while boiling the chicken. Fry the chicken and then cook the jolif. Sheila fryed the chicken in the aluminum pot, but if you fry the chicken in a different pan then the aluminum pot is available to start the jolif a lot sooner. Whatever floats your boat!