Nigerian stir fried rice

Nigerian fried rice is special whether it is this scrumptious Nigerian stir-fried rice, one-pot fried rice, the other Nigerian fried rice etc, there is hardly any Nigerian party that it does not feature in its menu. It is served on a platter alongside jollof rice, with Moi moi nestled beside them like a younger sibling, the little space remaining will be enough for the special Nigerian salad or coleslaw and a delectable meat or fish dish, like Peppered gizzard, fried chicken or turkey, battered fish completing it.

There really is no right or wrong method for cooking the Nigerian fried rice. Typically, the rice should be fried in one form or another in a very hot wok, but like the One pot Nigerian fried rice, no frying takes place and it still tastes amazing. Just make sure the rice doesn’t get mushy, the telltale yellow colour of turmeric in curry powder is there, it has enough chopped vegetables and it tastes good.

Stir fry method

This stir fry method which is similar to the Chinese stir fried rice, is commonly used and minimises the likelihood of overcooking the vegetables. Diced liver, kidney or hotdog is normally added, though they increase the likelihood of early spoilage of fried rice, but to prevent this or at least delay it, fry the liver, kidney or hotdog and add when mixing the rice and vegetables.

Nigerian stir fried rice will even be quicker and easier to cook if you use canned or frozen mixed vegetables. I hardly use the canned vegetables but frequently use frozen ones. Follow the same method but cooking time will be shorter, you only want to reheat the vegetables and rid them of excess water.

To make the colour really golden, add one teaspoon turmeric because inasmuch as curry powder gives it its characteristic yellow colour, too much curry powder will give it an over spiced harsh taste and ruin your fried rice.

To prepare Nigerian stir fried rice

4 cups rice
1 kg meat (chicken, beef, turkey)
4 seasoning cubes
4 cloves of garlic 
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons dry thyme
salt
1 cup diced liver or kidney
2 cups meat stock
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Vegetables

1 medium onion
2 cups diced carrot
1 1/4 cup cut green beans
1 medium green bell pepper
scotch bonnet (fresh pepper)
3 spring onions
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2-1 cup sweet corn

Wash rice and par-boil till half way done, rinse well in cold water and leave in a sieve to drain.

Dice onions and carrots, cut up green beans, deseed and cut green bell pepper and scotch bonnet.

Slice the spring onions, separating the green from the white part, shred cabbage, drain and rinse sweet corn. Set all aside.

Put meat in a pot, add 3 seasoning cubes (reserve 1 cube for later), garlic, ginger, curry, thyme and salt and a little diced onions. (You can add a little, scotch bonnet to your cooking meat). Cover cook over medium heat until it has rendered some liquid.

Add more water if necessary and continue cooking till meat is tender. Take out the meat, fry, grill or roast. Strain the meat stock through a fine sieve.

Rinse out the pot and pour 2 cups of stock back into the pot. If the stock is not up to 2 cups, add water to make up the difference, taste and add salt. Set over high heat to boil, add rice, stir and cover, reduce the heat and cook till rice is fully cooked but not mushy.

In a frying pan, fry the diced liver or kidney till cooked through about 5 minutes, set aside. In order to have enough room for frying both rice and vegetables, cook in batches. For this quantity of rice, I cooked it in 2 batches in my large wok, meaning that every ingredient had to be shared into 2. Place a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, when hot add onions, carrot and green beans.

Fry, stirring very often to avoid burning, for 5 minutes. Add green pepper, scotch bonnet, the white part of the spring onions and 1/2 seasoning cube.

Fry for 2 minutes then add rice. Fry over high heat tossing up both rice and vegetables to mix, it helps prevent rice from getting crushed especially if the rice is already soft.

Add cabbage, green part of spring onions and sweet corn. Toss some more, then take off the heat, empty into a warmer and set aside.

Wipe out your frying pan and do the same for the other half of the rice. Your delectable Stir fry Nigerian fried rice is ready. Serve with a refreshing drink like cucumber drink, zobo, carrot orange mocktail etc. It pairs well with barbecued turkey which is what I served mine with.