Wash the rice in a bowl in warm water to remove excess starch. Repeat 2 to 3 times until the water runs clear. You need to wash the starch out so when you finish cooking this dish your Jollof rice should not be sticky but grains should be single and tasty. * Please note the more starch you remove the tastier your rice as the Jollof base will infuse the rice.

Transfer rice into a pot and cover rice with 2 cups of water and add 1 bay leaf and 1 maggi cube. Boil rice for 10 minutes. This process partly cooks the rice allowing the grains to become infused with base flavours.

Remove rice from heat and immediately rinse under cold running water under a strainer for 2 minutes to stop the cooking process. Rice should be al dente in texture. Rice should remain in strainer to drain excess water for another 2 minutes. You want the rice to be as water free as possible so you will not have soggy Jollof rice.

In your oven dish add cooking oil and Jar of Obe-Ata. (Shake well before use)

Add tomato puree, maggi seasonings and bay leaf and fill jar with 300ml water and pour into sauce.

Mix Jollof sauce very thoroughly until it is smooth and the same consistency. It may look watery but remember that the rice is al dente and will absorb all of the Jollof sauce you have made. Next, very gently add the cooled par boiled rice and make sure all the grains of rice are coated in the Jollof sauce you have made. Well done! It's looking good 👌🏽

Mix until all the rice grains are covered in the Jollof sauce as you see in the picture for this recipe. Next cover the rice with a sheet of foil paper. If the foil you have is light then add an extra sheet. Cover well so no evaporation can escape, this allows rice to be cooked throughly using a steaming process. Next place rice in a pre heated oven at 230C for 1 hr 30 minutes. (Cooking times may vary by 15 minutes)

After 50 minutes take out rice and give it a gentle but thorough turn. * Turn from the base to the top. The secret to perfect Nigerian Jollof rice technique is to make sure all the grains are covered. As you turn make sure all the grains are coated nicely. Notice that the mixture is no longer watery, this is because the rice has absorbed the beautiful taste of the Jollof sauce!

After 40 minutes the Jollof rice is cooked and ready to serve! Congratulations 👍🏾Serve with a crispy green salad and plantain. Makes a lovely vegan meal.