Fried rice is a delicious food prepared with rice and some other vegetables. I love making this kind of rice mostly on a Sunday evening. In fact it’s a special food for my mother in law.

Below are the recipe for making fried rice

400 g long grain rice
600 ml turkey
3 large carrot
1 handful peas and runner beans
2 large green pepper
2 onion bulb
3 tablespoonful curry powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
3 glove of garlic
2/3 spoonful black pepper
3 cooking spoonful vegetable oil
3 stock cube (know chicken)
to taste salt
500 g Chicken/Turkey thighs or drumsticks(cooking the chicken)
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon curry
1 medium onion
1 glove garlic
1 small yellow pepper
1/2 ginger powder
2 seasoning cubes (knorr)

Steps

Add a little water and cook the chicken for 10 minutes. Then add more water and cook until done. The liquid left after cooking the chicken,is your stock. Pour the stock into a Strainer to remove tiny chicken bones and any other particles in it; then set the stock aside for later use.

Wash and place the cow liver in a pot, add seasoning cube and salt to taste; Cook the liver for 10minutes, then when cooled,cut into cubes and set aside. Liver can also be fried, before cutting into cubes

Wash all the vegetables. Dice the onion & set aside ; Peel the carrots & cut into small cubes. Remove the seeds of the green bell peppers & cut into small cubes. Place the carrots & green peas in boiling water for 5 minutes, strain out and place in a bowl of cold water, leave to cool in the water, then pour into a sieve and set aside.

This method is called blanching. It helps to par-boil the vegetables without cooking it through, thereby cutting down the stir-frying process. It also helps to preserve the vibrant color of the vegetables.

Place the reserved chicken stock into a large pot and bring to a boil. The stock should be at almost the same level as the rice, so that it dries up completely when the rice is done. You can add some water if the stock won’t be enough to cook the Rice.

As the stock begins to boil, add the parboiled rice, seasoning cubes(stock cubes), curry powder, garlic powder, onions and salt to taste.
Your rice is ready wen all the water is dried up.

Note:

• It’s o.k to add a dash of cayenne pepper if you like some heat!
• Don’t over boil your Rice before frying it, otherwise, you will end up with a soggy fried rice.
• Fried rice is best enjoyed when the Veggies remain crunchy, so don’t overcook your veggies.
• I used mixed veggies which consist of Carrots, Sweet Peas, Sweet Corn, and Green Beans. However, vegetables like sweet bell peppers can also be used.
• In order to achieve that nice coveted crisp, you will need to turn up the heat to high during the frying process and stir continuously as you allow the rice to heat up.
• I added pieces of beef liver in my fried Rice, a lot of people like this as well, but if you don’t want it you are free to leave it out, you will still enjoy the total goodness of the Fried Rice.
• When making this Fried Rice, it is best to use Chicken stock or Turkey stock because of their mils taste. The beef stock should be avoided as it can overpower the taste of the fried rice.

It’s nice having this sumptuous fried rice with my family.

It’s Sunday and i decided to make palm nut soup for the family unlike the regular food on my family’s time table.

This palm nut  soup is also known as Banga Soup which is commonly cooked in the south south region in Nigeria.

I learnt this recipe from my friend in Delta state, so i decided to share it here.

Palm-nut soup with or without fresh fish
Banga Soup can be prepared using fresh catfish (fresh fish Banga soup) or dried/smoked fish.

In this recipe, I opted for dried fish and stockfish, but you can definitely use fresh catfish if that’s your preference. Either way, this soup is very delicious with or without fresh catfish.

RECIPE

Beef: I used beef in this recipe but you can use an assortment of meat of your choice like tripe, cow leg, or any other beef part of your choice.

Onion: An essential aromatic that boosts the flavor of the beans. You can use any variety – white, yellow, or red.

Cameroon Pepper: This is used to add a bit of heat to the soup. You can use cayenne pepper or red chili flakes if you don’t have Cameroon pepper and if you want less heat, just skip it.

Seafood: Fresh Shrimps, crayfish, catfish, stockfish (dried cod), dry fish,

periwinkles. These are some seafood options that you can use. However, in this recipe, I used crayfish, stockfish, and dried fish.
Habanero or scotch bonnet: Either will work

Palm-nut fruits

Banga spice: A mixture blend of Ataiko and Irugeje in a dry mill. Readily available in market

Banga spice leaves(Beletete leaves): You can substitute with dried basil, bitter leaf or dried scent leaves
Oburunbebe stick:

Dried Fish: washed and soaked in hot water.

Salt: Add salt and seasoning powder or seasoning cubes to taste.

Water/stock: I also added the recovered beef stock to boost the taste of the soup. If you don’t have any stock you can add a little more seasoning powder (stock cube).

Tips for Making The most delicious Banga Soup

Season and spice to your level. This is the fun and creative part of cooking this soup. Banga calls for a handful of spice and seasoning so be sure to taste as you go and adjust the flavors as you like.

A good finishing: I always finish this soup with beletete. It adds richness and makes the flavors come alive. If you don’t have that, feel free to use bitter leaves or scent leaves.

Make enough for the next day: Most soups taste better on the second day, including Banga, so be sure to make enough to have a reserve for the next day.

Once the soup is set, serve with swallow or rice but I prefer serving my Banga Soup with rice.