Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, has completed her ambitious attempt to set a world record for the largest pot of jollof rice. The feat was achieved during an eight-hour live cooking session held at Eko Hotels and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The 28-year-old chef prepared the massive dish using over five tonnes of ingredients, including basmati rice, tomato concentrate, cooking oil, and onions, all cooked in a steel cauldron measuring six metres in diameter.
According to Baci, the record-breaking pot included 4,000 kilograms of basmati rice, 500 cartons of tomato paste, 750 kilograms of oil, and 600 kilograms of onions.
Originally intending to use 250 bags of rice, the Akwa Ibom-born chef decided to scale down to 200 bags to remain within the 20,000-kilogram weight limit set for the attempt.
“It was safer to keep the total weight under the scale’s capacity. Cutting it down by 1,000 kilograms still allowed us to cook enough to feed 20,000 people,” she explained.
The event attracted widespread attention as Baci and her team worked together to prepare what could become the world’s largest jollof rice dish.
