Ghana Food: Joloff

The next local recipe is coming today, one of the most cooked dishes in the country, Joloff. It is a rice dish that is eaten everywhere, in the street, in restaurants annd at home. There are many different ways of making it, but the look is always similar, a red, slightly sticky rice that is cooked similar to a Pilaf Rice.

I like to make my Joloff with chicken stock, but often there is other meat or even chicken pieces in the rice. For special occations one takes goat meat and cooks it slowly with the rice.

Rice is most probably the most eaten starch here in Ghana, even so there is barely a rice production, everything has to be imported, but somehow everybody eats rice. Usually one has at least two types of rice on the buffet, plain rice and Joloff, but sometimes one adds another type of rice, liek the fried rice or a saffron flavored rice. Then the plates get packed with rice, before anything else goes on the plate, that it how impotant rice is here.


1 Kg (2.2 lb) Rice
200 Ml (7 oz) Oil
100 G (3 oz) Tomato Puree
150 G (5 oz) fresh tomatoes
4 L (4 qrt) Chicken Stock
100 G (3 oz) Pepper (Jalapenos)
100 G (3 oz) Onions
30 G (1 oz) Ginger
1 glove Garlic
Curry powder
White pepper

Blend tomatoes, ginger, garlic, onions and pepper
Heat oil and prepare gravy
Add stock and allow to cook for 5 mins
Add rice and stir till water reduces
Cover and cook for 20 mins