Nasi Beriani Hujan Panas

What a dramatic name, right? How do you translate that into English?  Nasi Beriani Hujan Panas = Hot Showers Briyani. Or Hot Rain Briyani. Sounds weird?

Actually, hujan panas (rain that falls on a sunny day), alludes to the rainbow that forms after the rain on a hot day (I think so lah). A rainbow is a beautiful thing, it is colorful and so is this briyani rice.

I have always loved briyani rice because it is aromatic and incredibly appetizing when served with curry and acar. 

One thing to remember when cooking a briyani (including nasi minyak and the like) is not to be stingy with oil/ghee.

If you are paranoid about clogging your arteries and fearing death by heart attack/stroke after a clandestine lunch of briyani and curry (like you know who), then by all means avoid this delicious meal.

You see, you want to be able to saute the dry spices and spice paste adequately (which requires a fair amount of oil/ghee) and each grain of rice must be coated in oil/ghee. This has to happen, or else you end up with a dry and clumpy briyani. 

You are not going to eat this everyday or every week. So, chill out.

I enjoyed my briyani rice with a spicy cucumber acar and Beef Kandar. It was glorious! Bless my heart and arteries.

Briyani rice freezes well (just like ordinary cooked rice, I do it all the time) so you can cook up a batch and freeze in portions. That way you can pace yourself and enjoy the rice at a moment's notice.

It also helps if you have some suitable curry in the freezer too. When you feel like it, defrost the rice and curry in the fridge overnight. If you are thus inclined, you can make yourself some acar the day before.

Nasi Beriani Hujan Panas

Recipe source : The New Malaysian Cookbook (Page 70)

Ingredients :

- 2 cups basmathi rice, soaked for 30 minutes, rinsed and drained

- 2 tbsp olive oil+1 tbsp ghee (why? I cannot stand too much ghee because of the smell. A little bit is fragrant enough for me)

- one 4 cm cinnamon stick

- 4 cardamoms

- 3 cloves

- 1 pandan leaf, knotted

Blended :

- 1 medium sized red onion

- 4 shallots

- 2 cloves garlic

- 2 cm ginger

- 1 tbsp briyani powder 

- 3 cups water

-  1 cup evaporated milk

- some red and yellow coloring

- 3 tbsp raisins, plumped in hot oil

Method :

1. Heat oil/ghee in wok and saute the dry spices until aromatic.

2. Add blended spice paste and pandan leaf. Saute until aromatic.

3. Add briyani powder and saute briefly 

4. Add rice and stir to coat rice with the spice paste and oil.

5. Transfer to rice cooker and add water and evaporated milk. Stir to ensure everything is well mixed.

6. Cook the rice as you would your regular rice.

7. When the rice is cooked and the keep warm indicator comes on, pour the coloring in three spots per color. Do not stir at this point. Put the rice cooker lid on and wait for 15 minutes.

8. Fluff up the rice and add raisins. Serve.