Sunday’s recipe, early….so you can shop all you like and prep for Sunday.
I love the texture of Nigerian snails – the crunch and the krum krum and because I’d done the Snail Jollof version, it was easy to come up with this switch.
Essentially, I took some cooked snails
And chopped them into bits and then I combined them with hot oil-vegetables a frying
The rice – already par-cooked in stock went into the pan with the vegetables which got stirred. Some more stock was added, heat set to low and it cooked away till the rice was cooked through.
Basically, I followed the fried rice recipe taught me by master/ guru/ sensei Timi.
I loved the slight crunch of the snails, mixed with the vegetables and the rice. Definitely perfect for Sunday lunch.
- 4 cups basmati rice
- 3 - 4.5 cups stock
- Par-cooked snails, cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup hard mixed veggies - onions, carrots; diced
- 1.5 cups soft mixed veggies - spring onions, bell peppers, green beans; diced
- 1/2 cup green tops of spring onions; sliced
- 1/2 cup sweetcorn
- Aromatics - ginger & curry paste
- Spices - curry powder, dried thyme
- Yellow chilli peppers
- Salt to taste
- Soak basmati rice for at least 30 minutes
- Drain away the soaking liquid
- Add stock to rice
- Season lightly with salt
- Set to cook on medium heat, about 12 - 15 minutes till al dente, cooked but with bite
- In a large pot, heat up 2 tablespoons of oil
- Add aromatics and onions - let cook for a minute or two
- Follow with snails and carrots, stirring the whole time
- Add the soft mixed veggies and continue to stir fry. Season with spices to taste but with a light hand
- After a few minutes, begin adding the cooked rice and sweetcorn in batches of 2 - 3 cooking spoons, stirring well each time
- Continue this way till you've added all the rice
- Taste and adjust seasoning
- Put the lid on the top, and let cook
- After 5 minutes, with the lid on, shake the top with flipping motions. This way, the grains don't become mushy from over-stirring
- Taste and let cook till ready
- If you like garlic, then add some - after all the French swear by garlicky escargot