Easy Two-Ingredient Breakfast Recipe in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Milk Rice (Kiribath)

Milk rice is very simple to make. It is a dish made of rice and coconut milk. The simple process is to cool the rice cooked in coconut milk, place it on a plate, cut it into diamond shapes and make it for breakfast. So, don't forget to try Sri Lankan milk rice today. (further details are below)

Ingredients

The following ingredients use standard measuring cups and spoons.

1 cup "kekulu" rice (basmati, jasmine or use any rice but not sticky rice)

1 3/4 cups water

1 cup thick coconut milk

1 teaspoon or more salt to taste

2-inch pandan leaf (optional)

Utensils and appliances needed

Rice cooker or large pan

Banana leaves or tray

Flat spoon or a spatula

Knife

Notes:-

You can prepare this milk rice in a rice cooker or any other pot that usually cooks rice.

When cooking rice, use an adequate pot as the size will double.

The amount of water and coconut milk, as well as the time it takes to boil, depends on the type of rice you use.

Pandan leaf gives a pleasant aroma to the rice.

In some parts of Sri Lanka, milk rice is traditionally made from red rice.

Method

First, wash your rice three times or until the water is clear. Then, drain the water and put it in the rice cooker or pot.
Then, add 1 ¾ cups of water and pandan leaf(optional)and cook your rice using your usual method.
Reduce heat, cover, and simmer on medium / low heat until water is absorbed and rice is tender for about 18–20 minutes.
If you are using a rice cooker, turn on the rice cooker switch. All you do here is cook rice as usual.
Then add salt to thick coconut milk and mix well. Taste it. It should taste a little salty. Adjust the salt to your liking.
Add salted coconut milk, stir well, and reduce heat to low; continue cooking in low heat for another 10 minutes until the milk has been absorbed. Coconut milk is absorbed, and the rice is highly soft and creamy.
When the switch is off in the rice cooker, add the salted coconut milk, stir the rice and coconut milk very well using a spoon until the rice grains break down and everything sticks together, and turn the switch on for 5 seconds.
If the rice is not cooked, add extra boiling water and cook on very low heat until soft. Leave for a while until the heat subsides.
Transfer the rice to a cleaned banana leaf or tray at this point, then smooth and flatten it until the same shape as the tray or on the banana leaves.
You can use a flat spoon, a spatula, another piece of banana leaf, or you can put your hand in a sandwich bag and get it the shape it.
Be sure to do it while the milk rice is still hot. As it cools, it begins to harden and makes it difficult to adapt.
Get a knife and wrap the knife with plastic wrap. And apply a little bit of coconut milk so the knife doesn't stick to the rice.
It can then be cut into diamond shapes or squares.
Let it cool down a little bit. The squares are easy to separate when the milk rice is cool.
Serve with pol sambol, lunu miris, seeni sambol, ambul thial, or sugar.

If you do not have a banana leaf, you can use any steel/glass/heat resistant plastic tray or large plate to place the milk rice.

Lunu miris recipe

Ingredients

Red onions – 100g

Dried red chillies – 100g

Maldive fish pieces (optional)

Lemon juice – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Method

Finely chop the onion. Add all the ingredients and break up the ingredients using a mortar and pestle. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, put it in a crumbly bowl, pour gently from a heavy bottled bottle, or use a blender. It is essential as the ingredient piercing helps to enhance the flavour. Add salt and lime juice as need.

Further details

Milk rice (kiribath) is a traditional Sri Lankan dish that you can see at any auspicious time and on special occasions. In their language, it is called kiribath. Kiri means milk, and bath means rice. Milk and rice, in general, symbolize the prosperity and abundance of many Asian cultures. The Sinhalese recipe shown here is high regarding Sinhala culture, and they believe it brings them luck and happiness. In the past, milk rice was the cook in wooden clay pots, which gave the kiribath a unique flavor. Residents of the southern part of Sri Lanka use red rice. As it is difficult to originate the Sri Lankan rice variety, you can use short grain white rice as an alternative. Any starchy and sticky rice variety would be more suitable for this recipe. Be sure not to use parboiled rice.

Special occasions begin with kiribath in a Sinhala home. In ancient times, this was an offer to lord buddha in reverence. It is the first solid food that a newborn baby will taste and the first food served to the newlyweds. As Sri Lanka is a tropical island, coconut and rice are widely grown, and you will not find a Sri Lankan meal that does not use rice and coconut in their staple food.

There are two other types of kiribath. Mung kiribath and imbul kiribath. Mung kiribath is an interesting version of mung beans, also known as green gram. Also, it can follow the same recipe for making mung kiribath. Imbul kiribath is the sweet variation of milk rice or kiribath. Ibul kiribath is made by taking a small amount of milk rice and spreading it on a banana leaf. Then place some coconut filling (pani pol) on the milk rice after the banana leaves are bent and turned vertically to give a cylindrical shape.