Tool · Flavour

Seasoning blender

Pick a country style. Get the exact spice blend, quantities per cup of rice, and the technique tip that makes the difference.

Interactive tool

Seasoning blender

Pick a country style for the exact spice blend with quantities and technique notes.

Nigerian party jollof

The canonical West African jollof. Heat-forward, smoke-mandatory, party-scaled.

Heat level

Recommended rice

Long-grain parboiled (e.g. Uncle Ben's or local 25kg bag)

Spice blend

Dry thyme

Dried whole leaf, not ground.

1 tsp per cup rice

Curry powder

Nigerian curry blend, not Madras.

½ tsp per cup rice

Bay leaves

Add whole, remove before serving.

2 per pot

Bouillon / Maggi

Or Knorr chicken.

1 cube per 2 cups rice

Scotch bonnet (blended)

Into the base. Non-negotiable.

3 per kg rice

Ground crayfish

Optional but traditional.

½ tsp per pot

White pepper

Adds background heat.

¼ tsp per pot

Cook's tip

Bloom the bouillon cube and dry spices directly in the oil before adding the pepper base. This unlocks fat-soluble flavours you cannot get any other way.

The spice principle

Most jollof rice failures come not from wrong spices but wrong order and wrong heat. Spices added to a cold pot produce nothing. The same spices bloomed in hot oil produce the depth that distinguishes remarkable jollof from decent jollof.

Dried spices go in the oil, not the base. Add thyme, curry, and bay leaf directly to the hot oil before the tomato paste. Let them sizzle for 30 seconds. Their fat-soluble flavour compounds only release in this step.

Bouillon is salt plus umami. A Maggi cube is essentially salt, MSG, sugar, and a small amount of fat. If you use homemade stock, season separately. Never add the bouillon before tasting the reduced base first.

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JollofHub editorial standards: every fact checked, every quantity tested.Our contributors