How to cook Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a type of dish from the Louisiana area, similar to paella. It’s usually made out of chicken, wieners, shrimp and tomato sauce with spices.
There are two main versions of preparing Jambalaya. The fist one is Creole Jambalaya (also called “Red Jambalaya”). Here first you put the chicken and then add the wieners, vegetables, tomatoes and seafood in a pan. In the end you add chicken soup and rice. Everything has to boil for 20-60 minutes while frequently stirring.
The second version is Jambalaya Cajun, which doesn’t contain tomatoes. The meat is fried in a pan. Separately, onion, celery stems and the red pepper are slightly soted. Chicken soup and spices are added and then the fried meat. This mix is left for about an hour until it boils and then the rice is added. Another hour on heat and after that, it’s ready.
There is also a third rare version. Here the vegetables, meat and rice are each separately cooked and the rice is added to the meat and vegetable mix right before serving.
Creole Jambalaya is originated in the French part of New Orleans. It started out as a Spanish attempt to cook paella in The New World where saffron couldn’t be found because of the high import taxes. Thus the saffron was replaced by tomatoes. In time the French influence started to grow in New Orleans and the Caribbean spices changed this “paella of The New World” in a completely special dish.
Cajun Jambalaya is originated in the rural part of Louisiana, where shrimp, clams, duck, turtle meat or from any other type of chase is frequently found. This recipe is spicier and smokier than its Creole sister. Besides, as tomatoes weren’t frequently used in the Cajun cuisine, the recipe didn’t contain these vegetables, but on the other hand the meat was fried longer for its color.
Here’s a classic Jambalaya recipe:
Ingredients:
3 diced chicken drumsticks 
2 pieces of sliced smoked wieners
0,5 kg of shucked shrimp
one onion
2 garlic cloves
1 red pepper
3 celery stems
½ teaspoon of curry
½ teaspoon of cumin
salt and pepper by taste
1 laurel leaf
a pinch of chili powder
1 spoon of flour
2-4 peeled tomatoes
400 ml chicken soup
Preparation:
Deep fry the onion, celery and pepper in a pan. Add the garlic for another 2 minutes. Add the diced chicken and fry for about 5 minutes. Then add the wieners and the spices-except the chili powder-in the pan. Add a spoon of flour and fry for a little longer.
Then add the chicken soup and the tomatoes and let them boil for 30 minutes until the soup reduces at least to half its volume. Add the shrimp and leave for another 3-5 minutes. In the end add the chili powder.
Serve with plain boiled rice.
