Yes, you have guessed it right, it has been pulut (glutionous rice) festival in the house since hubby had bought some good amount of it. I kind of got the push to finally get my hands fragrant experimenting with some different dishes.
I checked out some cooking groups, and surfed online for some nice recipes of making 'Nasi Pulut Kuning'. Mostly were involving the usual coconut milk and turmeric powder for the colour. But it wasn't enough, I knew I wanted more.
I wanted to make something with slightly bit more flavour, some onion sautee, and maybe some spices. You really can't take the Indian out of me. Everything is about the onion and the sautee and spices baby! The same time I was rather earger to use the rice cooker to make the sticky rice, instead of the slow steaming. Some of the search results I found were promising with tips in using the rice cooker to make it.
Then it was back to the drawing board (aka Google), I tried all kinds of search keys but did not see anyone making briyani version of pulut rice before. I was disappointed for a short while, and then I told myself, I will take the plunge, risk it and see if it works. I did have my spice mixture for my simple briyani after all.
But before I went on, I had a slight doubt. I stopped and asked hubby 'Have you ever eaten nasi pulut kuning before?' I was relieved when he answered No... which meant, even if I screw it up with my briyani version, he would never realise it. And so the plan was on.
So the rule of the thumb was equal amounts of pulut rice with coconut milk plus water, as it tends to absorb less water. And since I soaked it overnight in water, I decided to go less. And I also had my pandan leaves standby.
My step by step recipe:
3 cups of pulut rice soaked overnight in water with turmeric powder and lemon juice
1.5 cups of coconut milk
1 cup of water
some pandan leaves
salt
cumin and coriander powder, cinnamon stick
1 tbsp cooking oil
1) Soak the pulut rice overnight with some turmeric and lemon juice.
2) Strain the water away and set it aside.
3) Turn on the rice cooker with the pot, put 1tbsp of oil and heat it up. Sautee some diced onion.
4) Add the spices: cumin and coriander powder, cinnamon stick. Sautee till fragrant.
5) Add in the pulut rice, and give it a nice stir that its coated with the spices and oil
6) Add in the coconut milk and water. Season with salt and stir well.
7) Cook for 20 minutes or till cooked.
If your rice cooker is anything like mine, then it would keep turning off due to the lack of water. So I kept stirring it every 5 minutes, and to my surprise it was done in less than 20 minutes. Sure the grains are not as perfect as steaming, but it does work!
We had it with chicken rendang and some tempe fried masala style. Yes, masala again.
It has been an achievement of sorts when I was able to recreate something out of my own creativity... Masterchef, are you listening yet?
