This tasty tropical rice dish originates in Thailand and combines the sweet flavours of pineapple and coconut with the tangy taste of lemon grass. It is delicious served with red or green Thai curries or simply as a light meal on its own.
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced fresh pineapple
- 1 red cayenne chilli
- 1 medium carrot
- 10 cm piece lemon grass
- 2 cm cube galangal root
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tablespoons blanched raw peanuts or cashews
- ½ teaspoon asafoetida
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetarian style chicken stock
- ½ cup chopped fresh coriander
Method
Brown the pineapple pieces in a wok. Remove and set aside.
Mince the chilli, carrot, lemon grass and galangal root.
Heat the oil in the wok and sauté the cloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and peanuts until fragrant (about 2 mins). Take care as peanuts will brown quickly!
Add asafoetida, stir.
Add minced chilli, carrot, lemon grass and galangal. Stir and cook 2 mins.
Add rice. Cook and stir through for about 3 mins, until well-heated.
Now pour in coconut milk and stock, stirring it in. Bring to boil.
Cover with a snug fitting lid and turn down to very low heat for 20 mins. Don’t lift the lid until after 20 mins.
Now fluff the rice with a spatula and stir through the chopped fresh coriander and browned pineapple.
You can serve this attractively in a scooped out pineapple half. Sprinkle some extra chopped coriander and toasted shredded coconut over the top.
As an optional extra to make the rice more like a meal, you can add fried tofu cubes.