Bulk Bananas Savors Ghanaian Food in Accra

Jollof rice recipe courtesy of The Nigerian Cookbook by Miriam Isoun and H.O. Antonio

Originally from Gambia

Ingredients Handy measure

Rice 1 cup

Stock (or 2 stock cubes in water) 2 cups

Onion 1 small

Fresh tomato 2 small

Fresh red pepper 2 tatasai/ata rodo

Tomato paste 2 table spoons

Groundnut oil 1 ½ table spoons

Directions

Clean the rice well by rinsing and subsequent sieving.
Grind the onion, fresh tomato and fresh pepper.
Fry in oil for 5 minutes in a large cooking pot. Add the stock and tomato paste, and boil.
Add the rice and turn the heat down to its lowest point. Cover tightly.
When all the water has been absorbed and the grains still separate, turn with spoon to loosen the grains.
Allow to cool partially before serving to blend the flavors. Serve with any meat, fish or chicken dish and a salad or cooked vegetable for a complete meal.

Variations: Fold in ½ cup of boiled beans just before serving. Add 2 mashed cloves or garlic to the fried ingredients. Add ¼ tea spoon dried thyme, African nut meg or curry powder with the stock. Add (1 table spoon) chopped fresh herb (e.g. tea-bush leaves).

Alternative preparation

Boil 1 cup of rice with 1 cup of water until most of the water is absorbed.
Add well flavored left-over palm oil or groundnut oil stew brought to 1 cup with water.
Boil at low heat. Cook covered until all the water has evaporated and serve.

Happy Holidays! hope you all enjoyed the Christmas and New Year holidays with family and friends; if not with family and friends, hope you had a relaxing break, anyways. I was really excited about visiting my aunt in Kwara state, but unfortunately, life happened and I was not able to make it. However, to make up for it, I has an exciting time in Ghana, which trumps the visit to Kwara. A good friend of mine was getting married in Ghana and my husband and I decided it was a good reason as any to check out our friendly neighbors in Ghana and try a few of their gastronomic delights.

I knew the trip would be eventful when we got to Murtala International Airport in Lagos and realized that we did not have our passports with us. My husband waited at the airport to schmooze the airline staff into not closing the check-in counter, while I frantically rushed back to grab the all-important documents. Half-way back to the airport, I decided to actually check the passports since, in my hurry, I had simply grabbed the closest-looking document to a passport. I realized that I taken my brother’s passport instead of my husband’s and had to make another quick U-turn back to get the accurate documents.

Anyway, finally made it back to the airport with the 2 passports in-hand, breathlessly ran into the airport lobby, only to learn that the flight had been delayed; it was delayed for 3 hours! My husband and I were relieved when we got to Accra late in the night, with the hotel pick-up driver waiting in the lobby. We enjoyed a cool drive to our hotel.

The wedding was absolutely stunning, but the highlight for me was the Ghanaian food. It was completely heavenly. There were several events throughout the week, but my favorite was brunch hosted at the Ghana Artist Alliance Gallery at Omanye House, La before LaPalm Beach Hotel, Accra. I strongly recommend visiting the gallery when next you are in Accra. It has modern and historic pieces ranging from fabric, to beads to contemporary artworks for sale. The brunch menu included a traditional Ghana soup, jollof rice, rice and beans, chicken and beef cooked in several different ways, “pomo” and other types of “orishirishi”. The food was tasty, had variety, and very well made.