Coconut Rice

Ingredients

• 8 big cups of parboiled long-grain rice, washed
• 4 large tins of coconut milk plus fresh coconut cream from 2 large coconuts
• 1 whole chicken, cooked and fried golden-brown
• a big piece of king prawns, deveined
• 2 big handfuls of stockfish, soaked
• 2 big handfuls of smoked fish, soaked and deboned
• 4 big handfuls of ground dried crayfish
• 4 Atarodo (hot chilli peppers), blended
• 3 big onions, sliced
• 4 cooking spoons of vegetable oil
• Fresh thyme and 4 bay leaves
• 2 big tablespoons of curry powder
• 4 seasoning cubes (Knorr), crushed
• 2 big tablespoons of butter — for the finish
• Salt to taste

Method

1. 01

   Building the Grand Coconut Broth. Combine all coconut milk and fresh coconut cream in a very large pot. Add the blended Atarodo, sliced onion, curry, thyme, bay leaves, seasoning cubes and salt. Add 2 big glasses of the chicken cooking stock. Bring to a boil. Taste — it must be well-seasoned, fragrant and rich. This liquid will cook and flavour all the rice.

2. 02

   Adding All Proteins. Add the fried chicken pieces, stockfish, smoked fish, and ground crayfish to the coconut broth. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.

3. 03

   Cooking the Rice in Coconut Broth. Add all the washed rice to the seasoned coconut broth. The broth should just barely cover the rice. Stir once. Seal tightly with foil and lid.

4. 04

   Wedding Rice Technique. Cook on medium heat for 25 minutes. Open, stir from the bottom, add king prawns on top. Add butter. Re-seal.

5. 05

   Final Steaming. Cook for 8 more minutes on medium-low heat. Remove from heat and leave sealed for 10 minutes. The wedding coconut rice should be brilliantly white with orange and green flecks of prawns and herbs, incredibly fragrant and perfectly cooked.

More festive & ceremonial dishes

• Jollof Party Rice120 min
• Pepper Soup60 min
• Ofe Onugbu120 min
• Tuwo Shinkafa120 min
• Kilishi Feast Platter45 min
• Nkwobi Festive Platter120 min