Concoction rice has been on the Nigerian food scene for ages but it was a meal I didn’t really care about because I saw so many versions of it that I didn’t really like nor enjoyed. Some where just made up of palm oil and pepper with a little crayfish and seasoning. I just didn’t get it so it was not on my list of favorite meals until I told myself to look into it and modify it.
I decided to go for basmati rice, swapped the palm oil for vegetable oil and instead of making it a one pot meal, I made it a stir fry. ? You know where I am going right? I brought in the Asian way of cooking, using an African recipe. God bless Asians and their techniques. Boy it was so good! It tasted like nothing I had tasted before and had more depth than the usual concoction rice. You should try this. Damnnn! You should!!! ?
Let’s get the pots and pans rocking!
Cook basmati rice until it is almost done. See how to cook the Perfect Basmati Rice here. After cooking, spread it on a tray to cool down to avoid clumps.
Steam smoked fish with some salt until it is soft. This does two things. It kills germs and softens the fish, infusing some salt into the fish.
Slice the veggies. In a pre-heated frying pan, add some vegetable oil and toss in the vegetables. Stir fry for a few minutes.
Add blended crayfish powder, some cayenne pepper, seasoning cubes and some salt to taste. Blend it all properly.
Add the fish, prawns and some fish stock to add some fluidity to the sauce. Fry for a few minutes.
Now, add the cooled basmati rice and blend in nicely. Season some more if needed.
This is the slightly browned lovely concoction rice you get. Isn’t it Pretty? ?
- 3 cups basmati rice (steamed)
- 1 medium sized onion (sliced)
- 5 habanero pepper (sliced)
- 5 stalks of spring onions (sliced)
- 1 medium sized smoked fish (cut to bits and steamed with salt)
- A handful of dried prawns (steamed with salt)
- 2 heaped tablespoon dried ground crayfish
- 2 cooking spoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- Seasoning cubes
- Salt to taste
- 1. Steam basmati rice.
- 2. Slice the onion, spring onions, habanero peppers.
- 3. In a frying pan, add the vegetable oil and then the vegetables, stirfry for a few minutes.
- 4. Add crayfish, cayenne pepper, seasoning and some salt. Allow to stay for 2 minutes over flame.
- 5. Pour in the fish, prawns and some fish stock. Fry for a few minutes.
- 6. Add the cooled basmati rice and blend in nicely. Heat up to let it absorb moisture and flavour. It will colour nicely and smell divine.