Nasi Minyak

Nasi Minyak

Another traditional Malay Wedding dish. Nasi ( Rice ) Minyak ( Ghee ) is an extremely common and famous dish among the Malays here. It is a key dish in Malay weddings but of course it can be eaten anytime too, no special occasions needed for it. Usually it’s just Nasi Minyak but the recipe is with a twist, adding some lemon grass into it and bringing the taste out more.

It is quite a heavy dish as it made of ghee and milk, along with other ingredients. This dish is usually eaten together either with Ayam Masak Merah ( Chicken with Chilies ), Kari Ayam/Daging/Kambing ( Chicken/Beef/Mutton Curry ), Ayam/Daging/Kambing Panggang ( Roast Chicken/Beef/Mutton ) and Acar. The rich combination of the dishes is perfect for celebrations.

Recipe for Nasi Minyak

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup basmathi rice
  • 4 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp ghee or butter
  • 2 shallots or 4 cloves red shallots
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cm ginger
  • 1 lemongrass (bruised)
  • 1 screwpine leaf
  • Handful of raisins
  • Handful of cashew nuts
  • Fried Shallots
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup single cream or carnation milk
  • 1 cinnamon
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 cardamom
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Rince the rice at least twice and soak it in 1 1/2 cup water for at least 10 minutes.
  • Mince the shallots, garlic and ginger into a paste.
  • Heat the oil and the ghee until melted in a pot. Fry the raisins for a couple of minutes and toss them dry. (Re-use the oil back to the pot)
  • Add in lemongrass, screwpine leaf and the spices to the pot for the aroma.
  • Add the shallots, garlic and ginger paste and fry till fragrant.
  • Pour in the milk and water to the pot. Add in Basmathi rice.
  • Add the raisins and nuts. Stir. Add salt to taste.
  • Transfer it into a microwaveable bowl and cook for around 15 minutes. You can also continue cooking it on the stove but it will probably take a longer time and you have to stir it often to make sure it doesn’t burn.
  • Garnish with fried shallots. (You can make your own by shallow frying thinly sliced shallots ’till golden.
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