Coconut Milk Rice With Anchovies Sambal

I cooked this coconut milk rice aka Nasi Lemak ( a local name ) for dinner. It is white rice cooked with coconut milk and screwpine leaves. Eaten with a spicy anchovies sambal and garnish with cucumber and boiled egg . We, Malaysians ,normally have it for breakfast and it is a savoury and flavorsome breakfast item. But for me and my family we love to have it for either lunch or dinner as it is a too heavy item for breakfast :)

The screwpines leaves (pandan leaves) gave the rice a nice fragrant and the coconut milk gives the rice a more creamy ( lemak ) texture. I added a few shreds of ginger for extra flavor.

I gave the sambal a twist and added stinky beans aka as petai ( local name) to it as my family love this stinky beans…the strong aroma of this beans added oomph to the sambal. Explode with flavor in every bite…hmmm...delicious :))))

We had a wonderful and satisfying dinner ^ * . Needless to say , my Piggies were back for the weekend. The main attraction for this rice dish is the sambal which is made from these ingredients namely, ground dry chillies , lemongrass ( serai ), shrimp paste ( belacan) and red onions , tamarind paste ( asam jawa) , anchovies ( ikan bilis ) and big onions. Simple and yet when you combined them together and sauté them in hot oil , the heady aroma from these ingredients plus the rich spiciness has made this item a signature breakfast item of Malaysia. Every Malaysian loves it.

As I watched my Piggies devouring the rice and the sambal and with the oohs and the aahs , I knew it must be good..the sambal with the stinky beans was a hit and I was the happiest Momsie for that hour (",) I enjoy watching them eat their food heartily....especially when I took the trouble to cook them nice yummy food!

Ingredients for the Coconut Milk Rice
150 ml thick coconut milk - added to 500 ml water or more depends
A few screwpines leaves tie into a knot
A few slices of ginger
A pinch of salt
2 cups of white grain rice – washed and drained dry

Method:
Add all the ingredients above together in a rice cooker and cook like you normally cook the plain rice. Watch out for the amount of liquid to be added to the grains. The above is for 4 persons. Too much liquid will make the rice soft and lumpy.
Ingredients for the Anchovies Sambal

12 shallots
10 dry chillies or more if you want it more spicy & hot
1 thumb sized shrimp paste ( belacan )
1 stalk of lemongrass (serai)

* ground the above ingredients into a paste

1 tbsp of tamarind paste (asam jawa) - mixed with a cup of water
2 tsp of brown sugar

Anchovies ( ikan bilis) – I prefer to deep fry it lightly so as it does not smell so fishy
250 gm stinky beans (petai)
Big onions- cut into rings

Ganishing:
Sliced cucumbers
Hard boiled eggs
Method:

Heat up 3 tbsp of oil and saute the above ground ingredients until fragrant and the oil has surfaced . Add in the stinky beans and big obnions and stir fry till half cooked, add in the fried anchovies and stir fry it a while . Add in the brown sugar and add in the one cup of tamarind juice. I prefer the sambal to be thick. But if you want to have more gravy then add in a bit more water .

Enjoy!

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