Khadim Mbamba brought Senegal to London – here’s how to make his jollof rice

The theme of Black History Month this year is ‘Honouring our Communities’ and, as such, Metro is celebrating the Black people doing amazing things for food and culture in the capital.

The Diaspora Dish, Metro’s newsletter focusing on African and Caribbean chefs from across the diaspora, is back for a second series. They will be sharing their signature recipes and the stories behind them.

This week we’re in the kitchen with Khadim Mbamba. If you’ve never tried jollof rice, the famous red rice dish, you’re in the right place.

It actually originated in Senegal, where Khadim is from and can be traced back to the Wolof people. 

Khadim got into cooking because he couldn’t find Senegalese food in London. 

‘It always makes people laugh when I say I was tired of eating chicken and chips. I missed my mother’s food,’ he tells me. ‘Senegalese food wasn’t around in London at the time.’

When we met, he was still cooking at Little Baobab. Now, his focus is on pop-ups, catering and events while the restaurant looks for a new home. 

Senegalese-style jollof rice by Khadim Mbamba

Senegal’s national dish is the Thieboudienne (also spelled Ceebu Jen), which means ‘rice and fish’ in Wolof, and it’s widely considered as the original jollof rice.  This recipe is the base Little Baobab uses for its jollof rice.

Serves 3-4. 

Preparation: one hour

Ingredients

200g basmati rice

2 cloves garlic

1/2 green pepper

1 small onion

1 spring onion

1/2 fresh tomato (chopped)

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 scotch bonnet chilli

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Blend the green pepper, 1/2 onion, spring onion, scotch bonnet, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor (or chop very finely) to make a nokoss mix.

In a medium pot, heat around 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When hot, fry half of a diced onion in oil. Once cooked, add one tablespoon of tomato puree and stir well. Add half of the nokoss mix you have made.

Cook this, stirring constantly, until it is a dark red colour and the oil has risen (around 10 minutes). Add the diced tomato and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add around 300ml of water and bring to the boil. Add the remainder of your nokoss and leave this to cook on a low-medium heat for 15 minutes with the lid on.

Prepare the rice by cleaning three times and draining it.

Add the rice to the pot and stir well. Cover and cook on a low heat for around 20 minutes. Stir once, turning the rice, and let it cook for a further 5 minutes.

Serve

Try pairing the dish with some Senegalese chilli sauce (like the Little Baobab chilli sauce) on the side – it’s perfect for bringing the heat and complementing the flavours of the dish!

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