Thiéboudienne, the weeknight version

Thiéboudienne, or ceebu jën, is the dish Senegal is proudest of, and a full version is an afternoon's work. This is the way many families cook it on a weeknight: fewer vegetables, one pot, and the rice cooked in the same tomato broth that cooked the fish. Local rice from the Senegal River Valley is what makes it taste right; it absorbs the broth without turning to mush.

Serves: 4 to 6  ·  Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups Tonton Jeb Senegalese Local Rice, rinsed
• 4 thick fish steaks or fillets (grouper, snapper or cod)
• For the rof (stuffing): a bunch of parsley, 4 garlic cloves, 2 spring onions, 1 small chilli, salt, all finely chopped or pounded
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 7 cups water
• 2 carrots, 1 piece of cassava or 2 potatoes, ¼ cabbage, 1 small eggplant, in large pieces
• 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp or the juice of a lime
• Salt, black pepper, 1 bay leaf

Method

1. Cut a slit in each piece of fish and push in a spoon of rof. Season with salt.
2. Heat the oil in a wide pot and fry the fish 2 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
3. Cook the onion until soft, add the tomato paste and fry for 3 minutes until it darkens and smells sweet. Add the chopped tomatoes and bay leaf.
4. Pour in the water, bring to a boil, and add the vegetables. Simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Return the fish for 10 minutes, then lift out the fish and vegetables onto a plate and keep warm.
6. Measure the broth: you need about 4½ cups for 3 cups of rice. Add water if short. Stir in the tamarind or lime.
7. Add the rice, cover, and cook on low for 20 to 25 minutes until the broth is absorbed. Let it rest 5 minutes off the heat.
8. Pile the rice on a large platter, arrange the fish and vegetables on top, and serve with lime wedges.

Tips from the pantry

• The crust that forms at the bottom of the pot, the xoñ, is the best part. Scrape it up and serve it too.
• A spoon of Tamarind pulp in the broth gives the gentle sourness of the original recipe.
• Leftover rice fried the next morning with an egg is a Senegalese breakfast in its own right.

From the Tonton Jeb shop

• Senegalese Local Rice
• Tamarind