Riz gras recipe

Ouagadougou rice cooked directly in a red meat-and-vegetable broth flavoured with soumbala, the fermented néré seed condiment that gives the dish its smell.

1 hour and 40 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 50 g soumbala
• 500 g rice
• 800 g chicken
• 2 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 300 g cabbage
• 2 african eggplant
• 2 carrots
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp salt

How to make Riz gras

1. Soak 50 g of soumbala balls in 500 ml of warm water for 15 minutes, crushing them with your fingers.
2. Heat 100 ml of vegetable oil in a wide pot and fry 2 sliced onions until browned, about 8 minutes.
3. Add 4 chopped tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and fry 10 minutes until the oil separates and the paste turns brick red.
4. Put in 800 g of chicken pieces, the soumbala with its soaking water, 2 bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of salt, then add 1.2 litres of water.
5. Drop in 300 g of cabbage in wedges, 2 african eggplants and 2 carrots, and simmer 25 minutes until tender.
6. Lift out the vegetables and the chicken and keep them warm; this step is what makes riz gras rather than a stew.
7. Wash 500 g of rice and pour it into the boiling broth, which should sit 2 cm above the grains, then cover and cook 20 to 25 minutes on low heat.
8. When the rice has drunk the broth and turned orange and glossy, lay the vegetables and chicken back on top and leave covered 5 minutes off the heat.
9. Serve from the pot, with the vegetables shared out over the rice.

Get Copper on the App Store

More dishes from Burkina Faso →