This vast continent is home to a huge variety of cuisines, ingredients and dishes that sing with flavour and colour on the plate. Lerato Umah-Shaylor shares four recipes from her outstanding new book that will wake up your taste buds
PHOTOGRAPHS TARA FISHER FOOD STYLING ESTHER CLARK STYLING TABITHA HAWKINS
Smoky jollof
Serves 4-6 Hands-on time 15 min Simmering time 1 hour 20 min
LERATO’S TIPS
Smoked paprika is a cheat to add the smoky flavour to the jollof rice that’s typically achieved in West Africa through cooking on firewood or coals. I also love adding vegetables to jollof – raid your fridge for leftovers.
Jollof rice is best cooked low and slow for perfectly plumped grains. Check it at intervals – if the sauce dries out and the rice is still not cooked, add a little more water or stock around the edges, gently pushing the grains towards the centre without stirring. A burnt bottom is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged, as it infuses the grains with more smoky flavours.
• 300g long grain or basmati rice, thoroughly rinsed
• 250-400ml vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 plantains, peeled, sliced and fried, to serve (optional)
For the purée
• 6 medium vine tomatoes or a 400g tin plum tomatoes
• 2-3 romano or red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1-2 red or yellow scotch bonnet chillies, stalks removed, roughly chopped (wear gloves) – or pierced and left whole (for a slightly milder heat)
For the jollof base
• 90ml coconut, rapeseed or vegetable oil
• 1 small red onion, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika • 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 4-6 thyme sprigs, some leaves picked and kept for garnish
1 Put all the purée ingredients (except the scotch bonnets if using whole) in a food processor and whizz to a thick purée.
2 Put the oil for the jollof base in a large, wide saucepan that has a tightly fitting lid, then set over a medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until softened and golden. If it starts to get dry, add a splash of water to keep the onion from burning.
3 Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 2-3 minutes until the purée starts to separate. Add the spices and herbs and cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.
4 Pour the whizzed purée into the pan, stirring well, then cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until the purée is reduced to a drier sauce. Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally.
5 Add the rice and stock (about 250ml for basmati rice and up to 400ml for long grain rice), ensuring there
