Rice is a staple food in Nigeria and to most Nigerians, rice is not just an ordinary meal. It is a special meal eaten on special days and ceremonies.  A typical Nigerian does not joke with his Sunday rice as he sees Sunday as a special/resting day. 

How the eating of rice on Sundays became a Nigerian tradition is what I can’t tell. History has it that rice was introduced to Nigeria as a foreign food. However, over the years rice has taken over as the most common meal. There are several states producing rice in Nigeria, but due to the high consumption, it is still imported in large quantities. 

Nigeria is made up of three major tribes namely Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa. The Sunday rice is more typical among the Yorubas and Igbos. However, few Hausas also esteem the Sunday rice. The Sunday rice is usually prepared in a special way compared to other days. One thing special about Sunday rice is that it is usually eaten with large quantity of beef, chicken or fried fish. I grew up eating rice every Sunday as it was mandatory to cook rice and stew on Sundays in our home. Amazingly, as an adult I have continued with this norm. 

In recent times, Nigerians have been going through some financial hard times, and the prices of rice have gone very high. The cost of cooking the Sunday rice seems to be difficult for some families. Nonetheless, they’d rather forfeit other things than miss the Sunday rice as this would make little children demand it even with tears. 

Here are some special ways Nigerians prepare their rice: 

White rice and stew: Mostly rice rice prepared plain, then tomatoes paste fried with other ingredients 

Jellof rice: Rice cooked together with tomatoes and other ingredients 

Nigerian Fried rice: Rice with vegetables 

Coconut rice: Rice boiled in coconut water 

I am a Nigerian. I love my Sunday rice. And I’m glad to tell you this, I ate rice today. 

If you have a Nigerian friend living in Nigeria, ask the person if he/she ate rice today……… and one out of every two answer would be "Yes". 

Image source: allnigerianrecipes.com, dobby signature.com, 9jafoodie.com     

Happy Sunday. 

Thanks for Reading.