Jollof rice

In a blender put the tomato, red bell pepper, habanero with seeds, red Fresno chili, garlic cloves, minced ginger and a couple cups of cold water; blend on high about a minute until completely smooth; set aside.

Heat a lot of olive oil over medium heat in a pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Add the diced red onion and a big pinch of salt; cook stirring four or five minutes until just translucent.

Clear a space in the middle, add a generous amount of tomato paste, spread it out and cook stirring a couple of minutes to toast and caramelize it.

Add smoked paprika, curry powder, ground cumin, black pepper, turmeric and a spoon of dried thyme; stir and cook about two minutes to wake up the spices.

Turn off the heat, add the raw basmati rice and stir a couple of minutes until every grain is coated in the oily tomato paste mixture.

Add a bay leaf and a big spoon of chicken bouillon paste, then carefully pour in the blended tomato-pepper mixture and stir.

Turn the heat to high and bring to a simmer without stirring.

Once simmering, cover, reduce to medium low and simmer exactly 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave covered 12 minutes without lifting the lid.

Uncover and fluff with a fork, lifting clumps from the bottom and breaking them up.

Transfer to a dish and garnish with sliced green onions and cilantro.