Whole Wheat & Rice Jollof

I dare to be different today in terms of stepping into the Jollof territory. Nigerians and Ghanians are quite passionate about Jollof Rice, so anyone venturing into this territory has to do so with caution as you never know what the reaction of the many lovers of this dish will be.
Well whatever it is, I decided to take Jollof rice into the healthier territory. So that every spoonful comes with the familiar Jollof rice and the added benefit of whole grain, this time wheat.
Whole grains have the benefit of retaining all the nutrients quite unlike the polished version. Whole grains are beneficial  for good digestive mobility and slow-releasing energy so that your body does not go through the spikes and lows of energy .
I know that many of us will like to eat healthy but lets face it some of the healthier stuff are not particularly interesting. So by adding the healthy stuff to a dish means that the baddies will be edged out.
Today’s offering of Whole Wheat & Rice Jollof  allows you to enjoy the familiar whilst introducing the healthier side of the wheat.

Recipe ( serves 4-6 people)

Ingredients

2 cups rice

2/3 cups boiled Whole Wheat

4 spoons Tomato/ Pepper mix

3 tablespoon Tomato Purée

1 medium size onion

1 cup beef stock

Seasoning to taste

3 cooking spoons vegetable oil

Pinch thyme

Pinch garlic powder

Salt to taste

Water (Quantity will depend on brand of rice)

Method
1. Chop and fry the onion for 2 minutes
2. Add the tomato purée and seasoning , salt, garlic and thyme and fry till the oil turns red and the sourness of the tomato disappears
3. Add the tomato/ pepper mix and continue to fry for another 5 minutes
4. Add the rice and whole boiled wheat and fry for about 10 minutes stirring to prevent the rice burning at this stage. Frying helps the red color to be absorbed by the rice
5. Add the meat stock and water,taste to correct seasoning, lower the heat and cook the rice till soft. You can start with 2 cups of water in addition to meat stock. Check softness of rice as cooking progresses and add more water as needed.
6. If you want the burnt flavor you can allow the rice to purposely burn for about 10 minutes.
7. Serve with dodo and some veggies

Tips to Cooking the wheat
So what you have to do in addition to your Basic Jollof Rice recipe is to boil your whole wheat till soft before adding to the rice at the point you add rice to the tomato sauce. This is to allow the wheat to absorb all the flavours with the rice and continue to cook with the rice. The beauty about wheat is that it remains soft even when cold , quite unlike corn
I used my pressure cooker to speed up the process. You have to allow about 1 hr for the wheat to cook to the desired soft texture. The proportion of rice to wheat is about 2 cups Rice to 2/3 cup Wheat.
Enjoy  !