A blend of Sri Lankan herbs and spices are sauteed with onions in ghee, fused with a hint of coconut milk to bring out a rich aromatic flavour. Perfectly balancing the seasonings needed to make a perfectly delicious ghee rice.
From where I come from RICE plays a big role in everyone’s lives. Whether it is for lunch or dinner Sri Lankans devour rice in all forms as rice is a staple food in Sri Lanka.
Even though I was born and raised my childhood there most of my life spend is here in Canada. This gave me the opportunity to adapt to multicultural food. I’ve tried and loved food from other cultures and yet I still go back to rice and curry as often as I can.
My kids, on the other hand, would love to settle with a bowl of mac and cheese. Beavertails and hot chocolates as snacks and would indulge in pancakes dripped in with maple syrups any time of the day. Of course, we are used to the food here but I still get my kids involved in our cultural food as often as I can.
See those plates filled in with colourful sides?
Most of the time we make it for lunch just about every other weekends when my brothers and sis-in-laws stop by to hang out or my friends come over for a visit. Most weekends are always a busy one over at my place anyways. So we tend to make ghee rice/yellow rice with a few sides to go with it.
But back home, we save the ghee rice and biriyani for special occasions but today I’m craving for this yellow rice and realized I haven’t even posted it on my blog yet. So here it is… a reason to satisfy my cravings as well as fill you in on the details so you guys can help spread the love with the rest of the world.
How to serve Ghee Rice?
This rice doesn’t go with just any sides. It needs the appropriate curries to compliment when serving it. List of curries and recipes are listed right below. Pick 2, 3, or as many sides as you like to please your guests with this special aromatic rice.
- Dhal Curry
- Meat devel (Chicken/Beef)
- Meat Onion Sambal (Any Meat)
- Soy Sambal
- Anchovies Deep Fried/Sambal
- Onion Sambal
- Eggplant Curry
- Boiled Eggs/Deviled Eggs
- Fish Cutlet
- Cucumber Salad
- Beef Fry / Maldives Fish Fry
- Lime Pickle or Lime Pickle Sambal
- Papadam/Curd Chili Pepper
Notes
Rice – I used the seeraga samba rice but basmati Tilda brand works great too. If none was found, you may use other types of medium/long grain rice but it won’t be as good as the samba or the basmati.
Colour – There are a couple of options to make ghee rice with or without the yellow colour.
- opt 1- Ghee rice is done as described in the recipe below using turmeric powder and it will result in yellow colour rice at the end.
- opt 2 – Ghee rice can be made without the turmeric powder. It will result in off-white colour rice and that’s fine too.
- opt 3 – Another option is to soak a little saffron in about 2 tbsp of milk and that will soon turn to yellow. Which you can use to spread over the cooked rice and lightly mix to get the rice to turn into a light yellow hue.
- opt 4 – Orange biriyani colour can be used over this rice as well. Sprinkle a thin layer of biriyani colour over the cooked rice. Let it sit for a minute then lightly mix the rice to get a golden yellow tone. Also, the edible food colouring – the orange or the egg yellow colour works the same too.
- Coconut – Fresh coconut powders are best but If there was none available you may cook without it but I highly recommend you use the coconut milk for better taste. I use Maggie coconut powder for all my cooking. You may also use canned coconut milk about 2-3 tbs if thick.
See the recipe in details below
Ghee Rice (Yellow Rice/Kaha Bath) – Srilankan Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Seeraga samba -450g
- 3.5-4 cups Water
- piece Pandan
- 3 Cloves
- Salt as needed
- 4 tbsp Ghee/Margarine
- 1/2 medium-size Onion sliced
- 1-2 inch Cinnamon piece
- 3 Cardamon
- 1 tbs Ginger/Garlic minced/paste
- 8-10 Curry leaves
- 2 tbsp Coconut milk powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder optional
- Coriander leaves optional
Optional – Garnishing
- 1/2 medium-size onions sliced fairly thin
- 1/3 cup Cashew nuts
- 1/4 cup Raisins
Instructions
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Start with prepping the seeraga samba by washing it a few times until the water runs close to clear. Then have it poured into the rice cooker or if using the stovetop, use a wide/deep enough pot to add the rice along with 3.5 to 4 cups of water. Add a piece of pandan, cloves, salt as needed and set aside for now.
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On low/medium heat, use a saucepan to heat the ghee/margarine, sliced onions, a piece of cinnamon, cardamon and give it a good mix. Let the onions soften and turn to a light golden colour then add the ginger/garlic as well as the curry leaves.
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Few more seconds into cooking take off from the stove. Keep in mind that we don’t want the onions to a crisp or get burned, otherwise, the flavour of the rice will taste off.
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Pour the melted ghee/onion mixture over the rice along with the coconut milk powder, turmeric powder and start the cooking process on the rice cooker. Wait until it turns to “warm” which means it is cooked. Then use a heat-proof spatula or a wooden spoon over the rice to give it a good mix. Add coriander leaves at the end.
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If using the stove top, use low/medium heat to cook the rice for about 20 min covered with a lid. Do not open until the wait time is done. Next, check to see if the rice is done if not/looks too dry add another 1/3 – 1/2 cup water only if needed then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer leaving it uncovered for another 10 more minutes or until the rice is cooked to soft.
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When special dressing the rice, use 1 tbs of ghee/margarine over a pan to pan-fry the onions to a golden brown. Take off the stove and spread it on a kitchen paper towel. Next, do the same with cashew nuts and raisins. When done spread all 3 ingredients over the rice when serving.
I think I got everything that I need to say in order to make this ghee rice. I hope you give this a try. If possible leave a comment below or ask me any questions regarding the recipe and I’d be happy to answer.
For more amazing recipes like this one, take a look at our category HERE. Choose from many curries, sambals, snacks and desserts to satisfy your cravings.
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