For episode 7 of Around the World in 80 Dates, we’re heading to Nigeria! 🇳🇬
For this date night, I made three Nigerian-inspired dishes: Efo riro, jollof rice with crispy chicken and fried plantain, and puff puffs.
Just a little disclaimer before we get into it: I wouldn't claim are completely traditional. I’m still learning about Nigerian cuisine and wanted to create make these dishes to the best of my ability for this Nigerian-themed date night.
For the Efo riro in particular, I made a simpler, starter version using just beef chuck, whereas the dish is traditionally made with a mixture of meats and can include things like assorted offal. If you’re looking for a truly traditional Efo riro, I’d definitely recommend following a recipe from a Nigerian cook or creator who can do the dish proper justice!
Efo Riro
Ingredients
1 red pepper
2 Romano peppers
½–1 Scotch bonnet chilli
1 red onion
300g spinach, blanched
3 tablespoon Nigerian red palm oil
1 tablespoon locust beans (iru)
2 teaspoon ground crayfish
1 teaspoon bouillon powder
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Cooked meat of your choice, traditionally assorted meats. I used beef chuck chunks.
For the beef
I used beef chuck, which I first simmered until tender before finishing it in the air fryer for some extra colour and texture.
Season the beef with salt, pepper and your preferred seasoning, then add it to a saucepan with some chopped onion and enough water or stock to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for around 1 hour, or until the beef is tender.
Remove the beef, reserving some of the cooking liquid for the Efo riro. Pat the beef dry, then place it in the air fryer at 200°C for around 8–10 minutes, turning halfway through. For the best browning, make sure the pieces aren't overcrowded and are as dry as possible before air frying. You want the outside to become nicely browned and slightly crisp while keeping the inside juicy.
Method
Add the red pepper, Romano peppers, Scotch bonnet and half of the red onion to a blender. Blitz until you have a fairly smooth pepper mixture.
Heat the red palm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining half of the red onion and fry for 2–3 minutes until softened.
Add the locust beans and fry for another 1 minute, allowing them to release their savoury flavour.
Pour in the blended pepper mixture, then add the ground crayfish, bouillon powder, salt and black pepper. Stir everything together and allow it to simmer for around 5 minutes.
Add the cooked beef along with a splash of the reserved beef cooking liquid. Stir and allow everything to simmer together so the meat absorbs the flavours.
Finally, add the blanched spinach and stir through. Cook for a few more minutes until the spinach is completely incorporated and the stew has thickened to your liking.
Serve warm with jollof rice.
Jollof rice
Jollof rice is one of the dishes I was most excited to make for this date night. This is my simplified version, with a roasted pepper base, seasoned chicken legs and fried plantain on the side.
For the jollof rice
1 red pepper
1 Romano pepper
½–1 Scotch bonnet
1 red onion
4 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 white onion
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon jollof seasoning
500ml chicken stock
200g long-grain rice
For the chicken
Chicken legs
2 teaspoon jollof seasoning
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoon of the reserved jollof pepper sauce
To serve
Fried plantain
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Add the red pepper, Romano pepper, Scotch bonnet and red onion to a roasting tray. Roast for 20 minutes, until softened and slightly charred around the edges.
Allow the vegetables to cool slightly before transferring them to a blender. Blitz until smooth.
Heat a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. Add the diced white onion and fry for 2–3 minutes until softened.
Add the tomato purée and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the thyme, curry powder and jollof seasoning and stir through.
Pour in the blended roasted pepper mixture and fry for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. This helps cook down the sauce and develop a deeper flavour.
Reserve around 2 tablespoon of the sauce for the chicken.
Pour the chicken stock into the saucepan and stir until everything is combined. Bring to a boil.
Add the rice and stir through. Allow it to come back to a boil, then cover the surface of the rice with a sheet of foil or baking paper before placing the lid on top. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 30 minutes.
While the rice cooks, prepare the chicken. Season both sides of the chicken legs with the jollof seasoning.
Place the chicken on a wire rack over a baking tray. This allows the hot air to circulate underneath and helps the skin become crisp. You can also place the chicken directly onto a foil-lined tray, although the skin may not become quite as crispy.
Cook at 200°C for around 20 minutes, turning halfway through. Return the chicken to the oven with the skin side facing upwards.
Mix the reserved jollof sauce with the olive oil and brush it generously over the chicken. Return to the oven and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through and beautifully browned, brushing with a little more sauce towards the end.
Once the rice has cooked for 30 minutes, turn off the heat. Check that the rice is mostly cooked through, then leave it covered for another 10–15 minutes to steam and finish cooking.
Fluff the rice gently with a fork and serve with the crispy chicken and fried plantain.
Puff puffs
Puff puffs are a Nigerian fried dough snack with a soft, fluffy centre and beautifully golden exterior. They were the perfect sweet ending to the date night.
Ingredients
350g plain flour
350ml warm water
7g active dry yeast
150g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil, for frying
Method
Add the flour, yeast and sugar to a large mixing bowl and stir together.
Slowly pour in the warm water, mixing as you go. Add the vanilla extract and continue mixing with your hands until you have a smooth, sticky batter.
Traditionally, the mixture can be worked quite vigorously by hand, lifting and slapping it against the sides of the bowl to develop the texture. Continue for a few minutes until everything is well combined.
Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for around 1 hour, or until the mixture has noticeably increased in volume and looks bubbly.
Fill a deep, heavy-based saucepan with vegetable oil, leaving plenty of room at the top, and heat over medium-high heat until hot.
To shape the puff puffs, take a small amount of the sticky dough and squeeze it through the gap between your thumb and index finger, using your other hand or a spoon to help release the ball of dough.
Carefully drop the dough into the hot oil in batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Fry, turning occasionally, until the puff puffs are deep golden brown and cooked through, usually around 3–5 minutes depending on their size.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Serve warm and enjoy!
A note on authenticity: I’m sharing these because this series is about learning about different cuisines through food and creating a date night inspired by each country. Nigerian food has so many regional variations and traditions, so if you want to make these dishes in a more traditional way, I’d recommend seeking out recipes from Nigerian cooks and food creators and learning from their methods and ingredients.
