OluOlu Foods X Lerato Foods – Crispy Rice Balls

A sumptuous recipe with homemade peanut butter and crispy rice balls using the traditional Nigerian ofada rice and plantain flour.

Cooks in 1hr & 30 minutes
Serves 2 – 4

Ingredients

For the rice
1 cup ofada rice
500 ml water
1 tsp sea salt
Crushed uda pods

For the rice balls
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
½ tsp paprika
3 tbsp peanut flour

For the peanut butter
Ingredients
100g roasted unsalted peanuts (or roasted salted & adjust to taste)
2 tbsp groundnut oil or vegetable oil

For the roasted chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp peanut butter

For the groundnut Stew
1 brown onion, thinly sliced
5 tomatoes, chopped or 1 x 400g can of tomatoes or passata
5cm or a thumb size of ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, grated

Continue with
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, de-stalked & sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, de-stalked & sliced
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 vegetable stock cube (optional)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp sea salt
1 scotch bonnet (optional, de-stalk and throw in or pierce and place into the stew)
3 uda pods, crushed in pestle & mortar with the coarse bark taken out
2 small stalks of fresh thyme

Recipe

1. To start thoroughly wash the rice and drain in a colander. Cook on medium heat with crushed uda pods thrown in and salt for 20 – 30 minutes until softened. The softer the better in order to roll the rice into balls.
2. Once cooked, pour rice into a large plate or tray, spread out and leave to cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C for the rice balls. Season the plantain flour with a generous pinch of salt and paprika and set aside in a bowl. Season the egg with a pinch of salt and whisk.
4. Prepare a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Scoop a small amount of the cooked and cooled rice and roll into a medium sized ball. Repeat and place on a baking tray.
5. Dip each ball into the plantain flour coating all sides, then the egg and finally into the plantain flour and set aside on the baking tray.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, then carefully brush oil onto all the rice balls before returning to bake for a further 10 minutes for a lovely golden and crispy texture.
7. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and roast the peanuts for 15 minutes or until golden brown. You can also pan roast in a frying pan. Keep a close eye on the peanuts to avoid burning.
8. Once roasted, pour the peanuts into a food processor and pulse first before blending. Blend for up to 3 minutes, stopping intermittently to scrape the sides.
9. Add a little oil at a time to help loosen the peanut butter. The longer you blend the peanuts, the creamier the final result will be.
10. Once ready, scoop into a bow; and set aside.
11. For the roasted chicken; preheat oven to 180C.
12. Cut across the chicken breasts to create incisions and place onto a roasting tray.
13. Season with cayenne pepper, salt and brush all sides with oil and your freshly made peanut butter.
14. Roasted for 20 minutes, to be finished off in the groundnut stew.
15. For the ground nut stew: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wide saucepan. Sweat the onions for 5 minutes then add ginger, garlic, chopped tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the peppers, chilli, dry spices and stir. Then add peanut butter, 500 ml of water, stock if needed, and salt to taste.
16. Stir well, add the scotch bonnet, fresh thyme, crushed uda and cook covered on medium heat for 10 minutes.
17. Carefully place the roasted chicken to the sauce and continue to cook uncovered to allow the sauce thicken. Cook for 10 minutes or until thickened.
18. Serve with the crispy rice balls coated in plantain flour and tuck in.