In today's world, especially in my country here in Nigeria, it is very difficult to eat a balanced diet. Due to a project, I tried to take a survey of how much it will cost me to cook three cups of rice for three people, making it a bit balanced with protein because rice is a source of carbohydrate.
There is inflation ravaging Nigeria's economy presently, causing every citizen to lament, especially the less privileged, who are struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis.
Rice is a popular food in Nigeria, eaten by all, and it is being consumed at a high rate. A middle-class family will not go a day without eating rice, though we have different forms of rice. There is one we refer to as foreign rice; these are the ones imported from other countries. And we have one that is locally made here, which we refer to as Nigerian rice.
Many prefer to eat foreign rice due to the taste and the process of cooking, which is less stressful than that of local rice. With foreign rice, you can get it cooked in a few minutes without going through the stress of parboiling. Some believe that foreign rice is always parboiled because it is written on it, but unlike me, I do parboil it again when I'm cooking.
The preparation of local rice is always time-consuming because one has to be patient to parboil it to get rid of stones and other particles that might not be healthy for human health.
I chose the foreign rice because it is less time-consuming. I wanted to prepare rice with at least some protein for three people. Most of the raw foods here are not measured in kilograms because they are not packaged, unlike the ones we get at the store that are already sealed.
Here, they make use of a milk tin, and then I decided to cook six milk tins for three people and two milk tins of rice for each person. I got this at the rate of #300 each, which makes the six tins #1800. In cooking rice, there are different delicacies you can get from rice, depending on one's choice. There is white rice, jollof rice, and fried rice, all having different methods of preparation. To know the cost of cooking a meal that is economically and pocket-friendly, I decided to cook white rice and jollof rice because they are less expensive.
COST OF PREPARING WHITE AND JOLLOF RICE
After getting the rice for #1800, it is impossible to eat it bland; one needs a sauce or stew to go with it, and this can be challenging, especially with the present situation of the country. I decided to get a protein, which is fish, to go with the stew.
There is a fish popularly known as shawa here in Nigeria; that's herring fish, and another one popularly known as titus, which can also be called mackerel. I weighed the prices of these two fish, and I decided to go for the herring fish because it is less expensive. One herring fish cost #1000, while a mackerel cost #1700. The difference is clear, right? Yes, the main reason I went for herring fish was to cut the cost, and aside from that, herring fish is rich in protein, fats, mineral salts, and vitamins, with a good quality source of omega-3.
To make a stew, I needed tomatoes, peppers, onions, and groundnut oil, along with seasonings. Getting this at a good rate was a bit challenging because, recently, tomatoes have become scarce. After the long search, I was able to get enough for my cooking, and together with seasoning and groundnut oil, it all cost me #4000.
I divided the six cups of rice into two, half for white rice and the other for jollof rice. For my white rice, I spent #4,900, which's around $3.80 due to the present exchange rate. And this was a meal for three people. At first, I budgeted #6,000 for both the white rice and jollof rice, but later I overspent my budget because that wasn't enough.
There are many sources of protein that I can use in my cooking, but I prefer the herring fish for the white rice. I decided to know the price for eggs. If I'm to choose eggs, that would be #150 per one; to get three people, it would be #450, which is less expensive than the herring fish, but I chose the fish because it's one of my favorites. There is beef, chicken, and turkey, which can be substituted for fish just in case the consumer doesn't like fish. In cooking the white rice and stew, I used 40 minutes before I could say the food was ready.
To prepare the second half of the rice, which is another three milk tins worth #900,. I decided to make jollof rice with chicken. Although there are other substitutes that I can use, such as eggs, fish, beef, and turkey, I prefer chicken.
If I'm to buy one chicken, it will cost me between #10,000 and #11,000, but luckily I have one that I could cook without buying. The pepper, onions, seasoning, and groundnut oil that I'll be using for this all cost #3500, which is less than that of white rice. In the preparation of this, I decided to add a popular fish known as panla or eja kika in my tribe, but worldwide, it is known as European hake fish. It has some unquestionable facts for a healthy diet, such as being low in fat, low in calories, a source of high-value protein, and having a significant content of minerals and vitamins.
For jollof rice, I don't need to prepare a stew to go with it. The process is much simpler, less stressful, and less time consuming. What I could say is the stress there is in the preparation of the chicken, from removing the feathers to frying because it's a live chicken, not a frozen one. For this meal, I spent #4,400, and for both meals, I spent #9,300
This meal, I can say, is not well balanced, but yet, I spent quite a large sum of money in the preparation. That's how expensive food items are. Now, to eat a well-balanced diet, one would have #7,000 per food, not to mention cooking two delicacies.
All images are mine
Thanks for your time, and your comments will be appreciated.