2cups of medium to long grain rice(do not preboil)
1piece of ata-rodo
One large onion
2large cloves of garlic
2fingers of carrots(diced)
one medium to large bell pepper(any color works)
2cups of chicken(I used the boiling chicken for more flavor)
1-2tbsps of yellow mustard
Itbsp of tomato puree(optional)
one cooking spoon of cooking oil
2 fresh tomatoes(diced)
A handful of shredded cabbage
shrimp...clean and deveined(optional)
Green onion(cut into little pieces)
I packet of Knorr
1tsp black pepper
1tsp thyme
Instructions
Wash rice until water runs clear and set aside
Blend half of an onion, a garlic glove, and ata-rodo
in a pot, season chicken with half of the blended paste, salt, and a knorr cube. Do not add water. Let the chicken cook in it's juices. Once the juices have dried a bit, add some water to the level of the cooking chicken and adjust the seasonings.
Once chicken is cooked, drain it out of the meat stock.
heat a cooking spoon of oil in another pot, add the chicken into the oil and slightly fry. Slice or dice the other half of the onion and mix with the mustard. Stir the mixture into the oil and sauté until translucent. Stir in the other garlic clove after grating or cutting it into small pieces; and sauté until fragrant. Add the other half of the onion and ata-rodo blend along with the tomatoes(you may add the tomato paste, but I did not use any), cabbage, bell pepper, carrots, and sauté for about 2 minutes(you do not want to over cook your vegetables) Add the meat stock, black pepper, and thyme; then adjust seasonings. Bring the stock to a boil(at this point you may remove the carrots and cabbage, but in order to cut down on cooking time I did not add the cabbage, I only added the carrots, and I did not remove it. I stirred in the cabbage along with the shrimp at the end).
Add rice, bring to a boil then reduce heat and cover. Cook rice until aldente.( you may re introduce and stir in the cabbage and carrots into the cooked rice if you had taken them out earlier).
Adjust seasonings and stir in some of the green onion and shrimp if using some. Set aside and let rice rest before serving. (You may garish this dish with the remaining green onions and some green peas. Or use the shredded cabbage and carrots which you took out earlier)
I served mine with some slightly grilled jumbo scallops
Recipe by Nigerian Lazy Chef at https://www.nigerianlazychef.com/2015/02/maramans-ivorian-fried-ricele-riz-gras/