← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 400 g Basmati rice, rinsed and soaked for 20 minutes, drained
• 3 tbsp Ghee
• 1 Onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cm piece Ginger, finely chopped
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 2 Star anise
• 4 Cardamom, lightly crushed
• 4 Cloves
• 200 g blended tinned tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée or ketchup
• 120 ml Evaporated milk
• 450 ml Water
• 1½ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 Pandan leaves, knotted
• 3 tbsp Crispy fried shallots
• 1 handful Coriander (cilantro), chopped

Method

1. Melt the ghee in a heavy pot over medium heat. Fry the onion for 4–5 min until golden, then add the garlic, ginger and whole spices and fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
2. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato purée and cook for 3–4 min until thick and the ghee turns red.
3. Add the drained rice and stir gently for 1 minute to coat each grain.
4. Pour in the evaporated milk and water with the salt, sugar and pandan. Bring to the boil, then cover tightly and cook over the lowest heat for 15 min.
5. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 10 min. Fluff with a fork, remove the pandan and whole spices, and top with fried shallots and coriander.

Tips

• A rice cooker works well: do steps 1–3 in a pan, then tip everything into the cooker and press start.
• Add a handful of green peas with the water for the classic speckled look.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

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