Sri Lankan recipe
How to make Kiribath (milk rice)
Kiribath
The whole country, above all Sinhalese homes
Rice cooked in coconut milk until it sets, then flattened on a plate and cut into diamond shapes. It is eaten on the first day of each month and for every happy beginning: weddings, a new job, a new house and, above all, as the first meal of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April. It is served with lunu miris, a fiery onion and chilli paste, or with jaggery.
Ingredients
- 300 g short-grain white rice (Sri Lankan samba or pudding rice)
- 600 ml water
- 400 ml thick coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- To serve: lunu miris (chilli, onion and lime paste), or grated jaggery or brown sugar
Method
- Rinse the rice, put it in a heavy pan with the water, bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes, until the rice is soft and the water is absorbed.
- Stir in the coconut milk and salt. Cook on a low heat, stirring all the time, for about 10 minutes, until the rice is thick, creamy and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- Tip the rice onto a flat plate and press it into an even layer about 3 cm thick with a banana leaf or the back of a spoon.
- Leave it to cool for 10 minutes, then cut it into diamond shapes and serve warm.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
Kiri means milk and bath means rice in Sinhala.
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