Jambalaya

 

Jambalaya is a creole dish of West African origin with French and Spanish influence, made up of rice, vegetables, beef and seafood using shelled or peeled shrimps. It’s a casserole dish mix of all these ingredients and can be baked in a slow oven or cooked on a stove on slow to medium heat. 

The Jambalaya rice dish can be prepared using long rain rice. The Italian arborio rice or brown rice can also be used. Also the Nigerian short grain unpolished rice is also a great choice in cooking this special delicacy. 

Ingredients 

250ml olive oil or 150g butter or soft cooking margarine 

1 clove garlic crushed 

1 large onion chopped 

1/2 teaspoon marjoram spice

1 teaspoon thyme 

1/2 teaspoon curry powder 

2 chicken or beef seasoning cubes 

2 large green peppers chopped or sliced thinly lengthwise 

2 large red peppers chopped or sliced thinly lengthwise 

1 small tinned tomato purée

200g blended fresh tomatoes 

250g chopped beef or chicken breasts 

200g fresh shelled or peeled shrimps

500g Long or short grain rice

1litre water, beef or chicken stock

Salt to taste 

Method of Preparation 

• Wash and prepare all ingredients. 

• Sauté the garlic and onion in the olive oil or butter until soft and translucent in colour. Add the red and green peppers and sauté for another five minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.

• Put more of the olive oil or butter in the sauce pan and sauté the beef or chicken pieces which have been well seasoned with a little salt, curry and thyme. After ten minutes, add the freshly blended tomatoes, tomato purée and leave to simmer for a further five minutes.  Remove from the heat. 

• In a medium to large cooking pot, put the remaining oil or butter, place the rice and the vegetables and stir well ensuring that they are well mixed. Add the meat and  tomato sauce to it , remaining spices, salt , seasoning cubes and water or stock and stir well. Season the shrimps and add it to the Jambalaya at this stage. Stir well together. Leave to cook on low to medium heat for 1hr or until rice is soft and meat is properly cooked in a slow oven or on the cooking stove. When the Jambalaya is ready, it should be a colorful combination of rice, meat, shrimps and vegetables. You can serve with a green salad or with cucumbers and tomatoes.