Fancy Yellow Rice Kaha Bath

Yellow rice is a festive Sri Lankan dish usually served at large gatherings or on special occasions. I recall my mother serving this beautiful dish on large silver platters for the many dinner parties she hosted, and it was always a hit, with barely a grain left by the end of the night. h e rice is shaded yellow by the addition of turmeric or saf f ron strands, cooked with warmed ghee, and perfumed with whole cardamom pods, peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon. It is garnished with fried hard-boiled eggs, fried cashew nuts and raisins, and a sprinkling of freshly chopped mint. It is delicious with chicken curry (page 111), white potato curry (page 65), and pineapple salad (page 147), but is fl avourful enough to eat on its own. While this rice does take some time to prepare, it is well worth it. (If you want to make this for a smaller group, simply halve all the ingredients and follow the same method.)

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

• In a small pot, melt the ghee (or butter) over medium-high heat. When the butter is hot, add the onion and fry until golden. Add 2 cups tepid water to the pot.

Step 2

Add the cardamom pods, cloves, and peppercorns to the ghee and onion mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes to release and combine all the fl avours.

Step 3

Pour the ghee mixture into the rice cooker or the pot you are using to cook the rice. Add the washed and drained rice and the necessary amount of water required to cook the rice (see page 22). Pour the dissolved turmeric (or saf f ron) over the rice, insert the pandanus leaf into the rice, and add salt to taste.

Step 4

Let cook, covered.

Step 5

After 15 minutes, insert the cinnamon stick directly into the rice and leave it there until ready to serve (even after the rice has fi nished cooking, approximately 20–25 minutes).

Step 6

If you have cooked the rice in a rice cooker, keep it on the warm setting until you are ready to plate on serving dishes.

Step 7

To make the garnish, in a shallow frying pan over medium-high heat, add about 2 Tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot (but not smoking), add the raisins and turn down the heat to medium. Th e raisins will initially balloon or swell up.

Step 8

Fry until lightly browned, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, and then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set onto paper towels to absorb any excess oil and let cool.

Step 9

While the oil is still hot, add the cashews. Watch them carefully, as nuts cook quickly and can burn easily. Stirring gently, occasionally turn the cashews in the pan with a spoon to ensure even browning on all sides. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes, and then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set onto paper towels to absorb any excess oil and let cool.

Step 10

Before frying the hard-boiled eggs, carefully prick them all over their surface with a fork. (T h is will prevent them from bursting when they are placed into the hot oil.) You may want to wipe out the pan and use fresh oil for frying the eggs, as there may be pieces of nuts in the oil now. If so, use 2 Tbsp of oil again, warm it over medium-high heat, and turn down the heat to medium, once you’ve added the eggs. Fry the eggs one or two at a time (depending on the size of the pan). Th e surface of the eggs will bubble. (T h is is fi ne, as the skins will shrink down when cooled.) Gently roll the eggs around in the pan with a spoon to ensure even browning on all sides, being careful not to break them. Th ey should be fried just until they are light golden brown in colour on all sides, about 3 minutes per egg. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, set on paper towels and gently pat dry (to absorb excess oil), and let cool. Once they have cooled, halve each one lengthwise.

Step 11

To serve, give the rice a stir/f l uf f with a fork and spoon the rice out onto one large or two medium-size serving platters. Remove the pandanus leaf and cinnamon stick from the rice. Sprinkle the top of the rice with the fried raisins and cashew nuts. Arrange the sliced eggs (yolks facing down) in a ring on top of the rice. Finish with a sprinkling of mint.

Step 12

T h e use of pandanus leaves is distinctive to Sri Lankan cooking, and a little bit of the leaf is used in most all curries. You need only use a small (1-inch) piece for curries, and a couple of larger (2-inch) pieces for rice dishes. It is a tough, fi brous leaf, so it is recommended that it be removed from dishes prior to serving.

Step 13

Fresh pandanus leaves may be cut and stored in the freezer.