Nigerian Food Blog
Calling on all Nigerian cooking experts and non-experts! 😉
What would you do if you found out that the Jollof Rice you are cooking is already soft, yet contains lots of water?
How would you finish cooking the Jollof Rice without the rice getting any softer?
Comment below to share your great tip!
Prevention they say, is better than cure. If you have any tips on how to prevent this from happening in the first place, please share with us.
Thank you!
And here’s a chit chat video on this topic:
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I will pour out the excess water. Finally, I see the face.
Thanks for contributing Chilax. 🙂 Really??? I have been showing my face for sooo long. lol
Scoop the excess water
Anty flo this one is jamb question o! pls tell us the answer.
hahaha I will say what I would do in the next episode. 😀
well,i wil first pour out the rice on a basket to drain off the water and then have a clean dry pot put in d fire and pour back the residue tasty water in the pot n allow 2 dry to my satisfaction and then i will pour back the rice into d remaining sauce water mixture and turn so as not to reduce the taste of my rice..and am good to go…thanks..Enjoy
You really deserve your name because your option is a wise one!
Wow, that’s actually the right answer Wisdom! Well done! That’s the way it should be done. 🙂
i will cut out pieces of yam,wash and cook in the same pot of rice,so as to take up the excess water from the rice.Lobatan!!!
Sis kike,the yam is to remove excess salt. just sieve,add more of your seasoning to regain the lost ones then add little water and cook for some time again
Wow! Best solution, thank God for having you.
Put the pot of rice in a hot oven. Covered with tin foil. Bake till dry it will not get softer and the water will absorb. Also if you don’t have an oven you can use thick slices of bread (the crust ends are best) and place on top and press gently to absorb the excess water then remove immediately before bread disintegrates. Repeat if needed. Then turn off heat and cover pot so that the little residual water can be fully absorbed.
The baking is a very good idea Nky, that way no flavour is lost. Thank you for the great tip. 🙂
I will just put it down and manage the s**t like dat. I HATE DAT KIND OF RICE SHAAAAA!
LOL Pls don’t give up on that Jollof Rice so easily Chim 😀
I’ll just put it down, allow it to cool and it will cake. Then wacking begin…..
Chim you are so funny! But are you sure it is wacking you will be doing to that rice? I think it will be more like drinking like akamu! lol
I will turn down the heat and let it dry at low heat
Thanks for your input Efe. But what if the rice is to soft it can’t absorb any more water? 🙂
Actually Flo, the rice won’t need to absorb d watr if the pot is open.
That way the water leaves the pot in the form of steam or vapor.
However u should avoid opening d pot completely so insects or dirt don’t get in.
I’ll stick a wooden spatula into d rice in different spots it will make the water to get to the bottom of the pot and spread through the rice
Yes that’s a good point but the rice is over saturated with water. 🙂
I ill uncover the pot of the rice so that the water ill evaporate.
O yes Zulaihat!
I thank you so much for your website, recipes, and especially the videos. I am married to a wonderful Nigerian man who appreciates your recipes as well! You have helped my Nigerian cooking to improve 100%!
Thank you for putting the recipes to great use Kathy! It’s not easy to prepare food from another culture. Well done dear! 🙂
I will simply drain out the excess water and return it on fire reducing the heat so it doesn’t burn.
Nneking ahhh, you will lose a lot of flavour by doing that. 🙂
Pour out the excess liquid. The get out a wok or frying pan. Add a little oil and stir fry your rice. The heat and frying will dry the rice
Uzo think about all the flavour you will lose by doing that. 🙂
I will not drain the water off because that will mean loosing the sauce of the rice, I will transfer the rice from the pot to another pot to avoid the rice burning/or taste burnt, then I will place it back on the cooker and allow to dry gradually. I could also not allow it to dry entirely if I suspect it could get burnt, so I will leave the pot lid open until it cools off and ready to be eaten.
You are very correct about it losing flavour if you pour out the excess liquid.
But this rice is over-saturated with water and cannot absorb any more liquid. 🙂
I guess I will just drain the water by using spoon to reduce the water bit by bit.
You’ll lose lots of flavour, Kemy. Think about what you can do with that water you took out so you can get it back into the rice *wink! 🙂
I think I will rather open the pot cover and let the water evaporate.
that is simple science, if you keep the pot cover open, the water will evaporate quickly and you will soon have a dry rice.
And since the rice is over-saturated with water, do you think all the excess water will evaporated without the rice getting softer? You are already on the right track Rachael (science), you just need to take it a bit further. 😉
What i will do is simple. This work very well in all my dishes that requires this method. I will simply open holes in the pot, so that the water can go down to the bottom. This method will dry up the water.
Ogoo, in this case, there’s water from the bottom to the top, so when you open the holes, the water at the top does not have anywhere to go. 😉
Since d deed has bin done d remedy is to drain d rice and mix d sauce n steam for minutes..tnx
I WILL SIEVE AWAY SOME WATER,AND THEN OPEN THE POT OF D RICE SO THAT THE REMAINING WATER WILL EVAPOURATE.
Transfer the rice into a flat baking dish and bake @400 for 15-25 mins, the water will dry up and the rice retains both it’s flavour and form( not too soft). Hope this helps 🙂
Hello Aunty, in fact the first time I saw this text on jollof rice, I laugh at myself because it happens to me while I was growing up.I poured out the stock from the jollof which we drank because throwing it away means eating chaff. But now, what I used to do is open the rice with spatula, leave the pot open and reduce the light to the barest minimum. With these, water will settle at the bottom of the pot. This will prevent the rice from getting burnt.
Chai Phil! Drinking the water floored me. Makes sense though! lol
It really got to me…lol
i pour out the water and spice it a little bit more to regain the lost taste.
Pour it in a baking pan and put it in the oven. The oven will dry out the water. That's how I finish my Jollof rice anyway!
I would Start By Reducing the heat and then covering the Pot with Either A foil Paper or Polythene Bag ,with time the water eventually dries up
Thanks oooo all of u. I don’t know how to Cook jell of rice, it’s either water or oil. I’ve learnt o
get a sieve and drain the rice,then heat the rice without the water.#cheers#
Does jallof rice suppose to be spicy? Or did i add too much hot pepper to my tomato stew? This was my first time making and tasting jallof rice it actually came out perfect! Even texture wise but a bit too spicy , i enjoyed cooking this rice while watching nollywood! Mercy Johnson! One of my favorite!
Kim the quantity of hot pepper you add to your meals is entirely up to you. There are a few meals that must be spicy hot for the classic taste eg Ayamase Stew, Nigerian Suya etc but for all others, just add pepper to your taste or to the taste of your guests. Well done for getting it right.
I will leave the pot open so the water can evaporate fast not loosing the desired flavour.
The recipe on rice concoction which used to be known as native jellof rice or palm oil chop is actually a delicacy of my tribe in Rivers State.it is sometimes prepared with dry fish or chicken
i love all you said ..i will just drain it and and dry the sauce to my taste before adding back
the rice
I am at my Fiance’s place and today happens to be his birthday…I opted to make him jollof rice and somehow it got watery..i googled and I found this site. Thank you for this helpful tips. I’m having a dry rice thanks to all of u! I made use of science leaving the pot opened on low heat and my rice is fine!
Well done Cynthia for thinking of using modern technology to solve a problem as far fetched as soggy Jollof Rice. 😉 😀
I add more pepper, baptize it Jellof Rice peppersoup and enjoy the meal jare
I would like to know what I’m doing wrong.
Every time I cook my jollof rice it tastes a shame if I poured a lot of water and soaked pepper.
Normally I buy jollof rice because it tastes very nice and smoked.
How can I get the same thing.
I have tried; smoked paprika, extra spoon of curry, 3 vegetable stock. I am out of idea right now. Can somebody help me.
Hi Mimmy, have you see the post about cooking the best Jollof Rice?
I answer lots of questions in that post so when yo get there, scroll down to the comments and see if something will click as you read other people’s questions and my answers to them. Click here to go to the post.
My own opinion about this jollof Rice,I will just go ahead and add some spaghetti or parboiled rice to my cooking.cover it to steam together
My mom enjoys this kind of rice, she drains the rice in a sieve and let’s it get warm before transferring back to the pot
I am drying it on low heat and have left it open. Thanks ya’all