The most common Nigerian adult mantra is “there’s rice at home.” It’s something people say to their kids and something I say to myself when I crave things that make my bank account chuckle in derision. It basically translates to “save your money and go eat at home”, which is usually pretty accurate on most days. A lot of Nigerians consume rice, and so, it is a staple food in almost every home, restaurant and party.

As a result, it can get exhausting eating rice every other day, even in its different variations such as jollof rice, fried rice, coconut and even ofada rice. 

As such, I decided to share with you all the other ways you can get creative with rice, some of which I’m sure you already know. Take this as a suggestion on how to spice up the rice at home, pun very much intended.

Tuwo Shinkafa

The very first obvious example is Tuwo, which is a Northern Nigerian delicacy. It is prepared by boiling rice till it’s very soft and mashing it up till you get the consistency of semo or any other ‘swallow’. It can be eaten with any Nigerian soup, but I've heard that it is best paired with Miyan Kuka (Baobab leaf soup).

Masa 

Another northern speciality, masa is made from blending cooked rice with other ingredients and then frying it. Something like a pancake, but made from rice. I think leftover rice can be used to achieve this as well, it’s worth the experiment. 

Nakia

Nakia is another snack that can be made out of rice. I learnt about this when I decided to try desserts from the North. Not sure how it’s made, but here’s what I think about this particular snack. 

Rice pudding

Rice pudding honestly sounds quite disgusting, but seems to be another great way to utilise the rice at home. It’s made by boiling rice, adding milk, sugar and sometimes eggs to the rice. Like I said, disgusting. But the fact that it even exists means that people like it and eat it, so if it’s your cup of tea, why not? 

Risotto

Although this Italian dish requires a particular type of rice that is high in starch, cooking it can also be a way to be creative with rice and having something fancy at home. If it doesn’t work out though, you can always cook jollof rice and leave the risotto to restaurants. 

Do you know of any other ways to prepare rice? Share with us!