COCONUT RICE AND SALAD...


Apart from probably the owambe Yoruba firewood party rice, coconut rice is my absolute favorite. I make mine a blend of fried rice with all the vegetables and tomatoes from jollof rice and just have an amazing 3-way ;)

A lot of things have changed since the first time i cooked rice for the family, well it was when i was 12 and it was a total soupy disaster. Mum made everyone eat it though and asked them to take second helping so it would finish quickly as she wasn't gonna cook anything until her daughter's first pot of food was done. Poor guys, who could blame them for hating me that day. My father put up a brave face but i can swear mum snuck him something else later, lol.

Also, then mum would buy the coconut, break it, grate it and get the milk out of it using hot water. Boy were my hands/knuckles messed up then, now (thankfully) you can get coconut milk or coconut powder in the shops. So here goes, again, i don't do precise measurements so...

Rice
Chicken
Tomatoes
Curry
Thyme
Onions
Pepper
Seasoning cubes
Sunflower oil
Garlic
Ginger
Paprika
Green pepper
Onions
Runner beans/green beans
Spring onions
Eggs
Tuna
Shrimps
Cucumber
Carrots
Cocunut milk
Olive oil
Vinegar

Season your chicken with salt, pepper, curry, thyme, garlic, ginger, seasoning cubes and paprika. Set aside in the fridge for an hour or as long as you can.

Time to make the salad. Wash all vegetables in salt water  and rinse. Get your salad bowl and in no particular order add torn up  lettuce, sliced/diced cucumber, quartered and de-seeded medium sized tomatoes, shredded carrots, sliced boiled eggs and tuna chunks, sliced green pepper (optional). Toss it all together and serve with a healthy home made dressing of equal parts olive oil and vinegar, seasoned with salt and cracked black pepper. The flavour of the olive oil and the tanginess of the vinegar makes for an amazing dressing (you can also use lemon juice in place of vinegar). Cover bowl with cling film and pop it in the fridge till you're ready to serve. (The cling film serves to keep it fresh). A bowl full of this could serve as a meal on its own or a "snack".

Chop up your remaining vegetables - carrots, green pepper, spring onions, runner beans, onions and set aside.

Parboil rice and wash with a bit of salt, rinse and strain.

Add your chicken to a pot and add 2 cups of water and let it cook for 10 - 15 minutes depending on how soft your chicken is. Take the chicken out of the stock and deep fry, set stock aside.

Blend the remaining tomatoes and pepper and fry up in some sunflower oil. When its cooked and no longer tastes tangy add the chicken stock and coconut milk. Add other seasonings and taste. Cover pot and allow come to a boil. I don't generally add any extra water when i'm cooking.

Add the rice (the stock should just about cover the rice if you don't want my soggy mess of  '93), cover the pot and let it cook on high heat. When the stock is almost all absorbed, add the shrimps (they don't need more than 5 minutes to cook and even continue to cook even when the heat is off and the food is still hot). Turn down the heat and add the vegetables and mix. You can also sautee your vegetables in a tablespoon of butter and some seasoning and add it to the rice when its all cooked but why add more fat? If you add your vegetables raw, just leave it on the heat for 2 minutes and turn the heat off.

Yes yes, official taster tasted this and Maddy missed out. Still owe you hun... :*

Bon apetit!