Nasi lemak or coconut rice is a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves, commonly found in Malaysia, where it is considered the national dish. It is usually served with ikan bilis sambal (dried anchovies)
Sambal: is a spicy dish with thick gravy. It is a blend of chillies, tomatoes, onions and garlic cooked with little coconut milk and tamarind or limes. It is quite versatile as you can add squids, prawns or dry anchovies (fried), to the sambal gravy.
Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients:
Coconut Rice (A)
- 2 cups of rice (rice cooker cup)
- 3 pandan or screwpine leaves (tie them into knots)
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- Water – (Add the water to the milk to reach to level 2 in the rice cooker) OR double the water to the rice
- Thin slices of root ginger
- A few fenugreek seeds (optional)
Method:
- Place all the ingredients together in a rice cooker and allow it to boil.
- At the first boil, taste for salt. It should be slightly salty.
- Stir once when boiling.
- When cooked, open the lid to cool for about 3 minutes.
- Stir well and cover the rice. You can keep or remove the pandan leaves.
Sambal Ikan Bilis – dried anchovies with gravy (B)
- 1 big Bombay onion
- 150 grams ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
- 10 – 20 dried chillies or according to taste
- (soak chillies in hot water, drain and make into a thick paste)
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt or according to taste
- a pinch of sugar
- ½ – 1 tablespoon tamarind juice/pulp
- 2 medium tomatoes or 1 large tomato
- 1/2 coconut – for santan (thick coconut milk) and watery coconut milk
Ground Paste (C)
- ½ pod of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of belacan (prawn paste)
- galangal – fragrant ginger
- Candlenuts – 2 pods
- serai – lemon grass
Accompaniments
- 4 hardboiled eggs (cut into halves)
- 1 small cucumber (cut into slices and then quartered
- Dry roasted peanuts – 1 cup
- Fried chicken (optional) – 1 small chicken cut into small pieces
- Morning glory leaves or ‘kangkung’ (stir fry) – 1 or 2 bundles
Method:
- Fry the ikan bilis (anchovies) crispy. Keep it aside.
- In a kuali (deep pan), fry the onions in some oil until it is slightly golden in colour.
- Add C – the paste and chilli paste over medium heat until oil splits at the side.
- Add in the roughly chopped tomatoes, stir and allow it to cook until soft.
- Add the dilute coconut milk and let it simmer for a while. Sprinkle a good pinch of salt.
- Add in little tamarind juice. Take care! Add a bit at a time according to taste.
- When the gravy thickens, add in the santan (thick coconut milk), some of the fried ikan bilis and sprinkle a tiny pinch of sugar.
- Allow it to simmer until oil splits at the side of the pan.
- Taste and if needed, add more salt, tamarind juice, milk or more ground chilli paste, as required.
- Keep aside some of the fried anchovies for a crunchy meal!
For Prawn Sambal with *Petai.
*Petai is a bean used in South East Asian cuisine. It is usually cooked in sambals served with rice. It has a very distinctive smell and taste but is known to have medicinal properties. It is one vegetable which you either love it or hate it!
Ingredients
- 150 grams anchovies (fry crispy) or 300 grams tiger prawns. For prawns, clean leaving the tails and heads on. Marinate prawns with salt, turmeric and little plain chilly powder
- Petai (if desired) – cut into two right at the middle of each bean.
- Chilly paste approximately 5 tablespoons or according to taste – (dried chillies soaked in boiling water, washed and blend into a thick paste). If you don’t want it to be too spicy, opt for mild Kashmiri chilly.
- Big onions – 2 to 3
- Large Tomatoes – 2 to 3
- Lemon grass (serai) – 3 to 4 stem
- Tamarind juice – a little or according to taste
- Thick coconut milk (santan) -approx. 1/4 cup
Blend:
- Garlic – 1 pod
- Shrimp paste (belacan) – approximately 1 inch thick or according to taste
- Galangal (aromatic ginger) – 2 to 3 medium sized slices
Method:
- Saute petai with a few drops of oil with a good pinch of salt for about 1 minute.
- Fry the prawns in hot oil in small batches until the colour changes – approximately ¾ fried.
- In a kuali (deep pan), saute the sliced onions until nearly browned.
- Add in the blended paste – belacan (shrimp) paste, lemon grass, candlenuts, galangal and garlic.
- Saute for a while and add in the chilly paste and fry until the paste is fragrant and dry.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes, salt and coconut milk. Leave to boil.
- Later, add in the tamarind juice – a little or according to taste.
- When the oil starts to split at the sides, add a pinch of sugar (optional).
- When the sambal has a thick gravy, add in the prawns( or fried anchovies)
- Taste for salt, chilly heat and tamarind sourness.
- Leave to simmer for approximately 3 – 5 minutes.
- Add in the petai and switch off the flame straightaway. Overcooked petai tastes bitter!
NB:
- If it’s too spicy, add in more coconut milk (santan).
- If it’s too mild, add in more chilly paste before adding in the prawns/ fried anchovies
- Take care with the salt if using anchovies, as they are quite salty.
- BEST SERVED ON BANANA LEAVES – AS IT IS VERY FRAGRANT.