Peter's Mum's Sierra Leone Jollof Rice

If there is one clichéd narrative, done and redone, that I will never get sick of, it is the supernatural noir. Detectives tracking down spooky mysteries is almost always awesome, especially when the detectives themselves have magic and spells of their own in the arsenal. John Constantine, Kolshak the Night Stalker, Harry Dresden, Sam and Dean Winchester, Buffy, Hellboy, even the OGs of spooky mysteries, the Scooby kids and their Mystery Machine, are my NCIS and CSI and Law and Order.  The idea of a secret world only some can enter is always intriguing. Add in a physically hidden world beneath the modern one we live in, like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere or China Mieville's Un Lun Dun, and you have the Rivers of London series.

The Book

Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series manages to be a straight-forward, wisecracking, police procedural while simultaneously interweaving mythology, history, and straight up scary magic to create a rich supernatural universe. Peter Grant, a police officer just finishing his mandatory probationary period, is hoping for an exciting permanent assignment, maybe as a detective in the murder squad. . He and his colleague, Lesley May, are called to a crime scene, where Peter later finds himself taking a witness statement from a ghost. When he returns to the scene in hopes of finding out more from his deceased informant, a chance encounter changes his fate, from the data entry desk job he was to be assigned to the first apprentice magician London's seen in over 70 years.

The first novel, called Midnight Riot in the US, plunges Peter into the world of magical crime almost immediately. As soon as he accepts his position as apprentice to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, a man who clearly has secrets of his own, he is faced with real monsters, small gods, and a housekeeper who is not quite human. "Because I have to know", Peter tells Nightingale, explaining why he wants to take this position. Throughout the remainder of the series, Peter Grant remains someone who looks a little closer than most, who has a knack for finding out why. He is in many ways a normal twenty-something man, but he is also sensitive, compassionate, and something of a romantic.  He is, after all, the son of one of England's more famous jazz musicians, and his Sierra Leonean mother has retained a healthy belief in things slightly otherworldly after all these years.

The big bad of the series is a creature known as Mr. Punch, and I won't spoil much more than that, but expect some very gruesome scenes.  Luckily, Nightingale and Peter will find many allies in the other main characters, the Gods and Goddesses of London's Rivers. Mama and Father Thames, their many sons, daughters, tributaries, and hidden springs just being born, often give insight into hidden London and some forgotten history.  Peter is a perfect window for us into this world, being a modern citizen of London but at the same time one who values and respects the physical history all around him.

I absolutely MUST also recommend the audiobooks for this series.  The narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, has the most perfect voice imaginable for Peter, and does a great job with the numerous other characters. The audiobooks use a perfect jazz riff to take you in and out of chapters, an effect that's particularly awesome in the book I've linked to here, Moon over Soho, which centers around the mysterious deaths of local jazz musicians, both professional and amateur, and a woman who seems to be in the middle of it all.

Significant Moment in Food

"The motto of West African Cooking is that if the food doesn't set fire to the tablecloth the cook is being stingy with the pepper. Actually there's no such motto-from my mum's point of view it was simply inconceivable that anyone would want to eat anything that didn't burn the inside of your mouth out."

Peter Grant, as I said, is one one level your average young Londoner. Likes Dr. Who, pints at the pub, football. But Mrs. Grant, Peter's mother, is from Sierra Leone, and is part of a huge network of fellow West African expats.  One of Peter's home cooked standards is jelof rice, always on the stove at his parent's place, or tucked away in the fridge, and her home cooking becomes those coveted leftovers you get sent home with and your roommates try to steal.  Sierra Leonean food is mentioned prominently in every book, because this, too, is part of Peter's identity, part of his family, and they are also part of the story.

It seems like almost every culture has a basic rice dish meant to accompany all kinds of mains or stand on it's own with the addition of some heartier ingredients. Jelof or jollof rice is thought to originate with the Wolof people in Senegal, the Gambia, and Mauritania, sometimes spelled as Jolof. In the Wolof language the dish is called Benachin, which means "one pot".  Over time, the dish dispersed throughout West Africa where it became known by the name of those who created it.  Researching the recipe, I found that every West African country has an individual spin on it and that there is serious controversy over who made it first, who makes it best..  In that spirit, I reviewed many recipes and took what I thought would work best while making sure I included the most important parts that almost every recipe specified.

The Recipe

Recipe adapted from multiple sources. Many recipes cooked the meat and the rice all in one pan, but in the Rivers of London the rice is a standalone dish. I opted to make stewed chicken on the side. Some recipes included beef, one even added mixed frozen vegetables at the end, but as I truly hate those little cubes of frozen carrot, I passed on that. If there's anyone out there with West African roots or experience, please feel free to school me on what I may have done wrong.

Note: The stewed chicken and the rice really will be cooking at the same time. You need to use the pan the
chicken browns in to complete the rice. Work that out however makes sense, I will explain how I did it below. I suggest reading through this before  you start cooking so you get the timing right!

Ingredients:

Chicken drumsticks or thighs, 6-8 pieces
1/4 cup vegetable oil (many recipes said peanut, I used coconut just because I had it on hand)
2 medium or one large onion, sliced
2 large red bell peppers, diced or sliced into strips
2 or more Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers--depends on how spicy you want it!
3 cups long grain rice such as Basmati
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
4 cups of water or stock
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/4 cup tomato paste
14 oz chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

For the Stewed Chicken:
In a large skillet, heat all the oil over medium high.
While that's heating, season the chicken.  Very few recipes were specific about this--I used my basic trio of salt, pepper, and paprika.
Brown the chicken on both sides, approximately 5 minutes per side. Skin should be brown and somewhat crisp but don't cook the chicken through. Remove it from the pan and set aside.
Pour out about half of the remaining oil and return the pan to the burner.

Heat the stock in a large pot at the same time you're browning the chicken..
Once it's simmering, add the sliced bell peppers and half the sliced onion to the pot.  Add the 14 oz chopped tomatoes.  Let it all simmer for about 10 minutes and add the browned chicken.

While you're waiting for that to simmer, here are the two steps that EVERY recipe agreed on:

1. Wash the rice. Put all the rice in a colander and run it under cold water. Scoop up handfuls and kind of rub both hands together like you're cold and trying to warm up. It's hard to take a picture of yourself doing that but I think you get the idea.



2. Fry the tomato paste. The oil from browning the chicken should still
be hot because you returned the pan to the burner! Plop that 1/4 cup tomato paste in the pan and stir it around. It will get dark and fragrant.
Add the remaining sliced onions, minced ginger, and minced garlic to the pan and stir.

Hot pepper safety is no laughing matter.

When I was 18 and first lived on my own, I tried to make homemade Spanish rice using Scotch bonnet peppers. I thought washing my hands after would be enough. I  removed my contacts at the end of the night.....I was fine. UNTIL THE MORNING WHEN I PUT THEM BACK IN MY EYES. So now I practice hot pepper safety: Some recipes called for blending these peppers with some of the tomatoes. I decided to just dice them very finely rather than bust out another appliance.  Add them to the pan and stir.

Once the pan is sizzling again, add all the washed rice and stir. Get it nice and coated with the tomato paste.

Add the 4 cups of water and stir ONCE AND ONLY ONCE. Cover and leave it alone!
See  that magic? See those air bubbles between the grains? That's the way. Rice can be so hard to get right but over time I have gotten better and leaving it alone is the most important part. If you have your liquid proportioned correctly and the heat is not too high, you will end up with perfect, separate, tender grains of rice.

The chicken should be done stewing at the same time the rice is done. Stir in the spring onions and you're done.

The finished product! I am very happy to say this was a huge hit with both kid and adults. It probably could have been much hotter, but Seth, who typically puts sriracha on literally everything, felt no need to add even salt. There was heat from the peppers and the ginger, with a nice garlicky flavor. The tomato paste mellowed everything. The chicken was so flavorful and tender, it was the perfect thing to go with the rice.

I know this recipe sounds complicated, but all in all it took about an hour to prepare. I will definitely be making this one again and again.

Thanks for reading! Coming soon, the recipe that inspired me to start this blog, plus a holiday special.