Nasi minyak (plain buttered rice)

Ingredients

• 4 cups Basmati rice (soak in water for 1 hour with 1 tablespoon vinegar)
• 4 cups plain water (add 1 teaspoon rose essence for aroma)
• 2 cups evaporated milk
• 6 small Bombay onions (slice thinly)
• 2 in. ginger (grated or pounded)
• 4 cloves garlic (grated or pounded)
• 1 stalk of coriander leaf and some mint leaf/pudina (chopped roughly)
• 2 pandan leaf (can be substituted with bay leaf)
• salt to taste
• spices in a pouch: cardamom,cloves and star anise.
• 2 in cinnamon (break into 2)

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Preparation

• Wash rice thoroughly and drain. Set aside. Heat the pot and put in the oil and the ghee/butter.
• Fry onions,ginger and garlic until slightly brown and aromatic. Add the cinamon and rice. Fry for few minutes until the oil and ghee have combined well with the rice.
• Pour in the water and milk. Add the spice pouch and salt. Cook until the rice is about 3/4 cooked.
• Add the coriander leaf,mint leaf/pudina and pandan/bay leaf. Cover the pot with aluminium foil.
• Put back the lid and place a heavy thing on it. Place a sheet of tin or old pot lid beneath the rice pot to prevent the rice from burning.
• Let the rice cook for half hour more under very slow fire. Open the lid and foil. Stir the rice and remove from stove.
• Ready to serve. Garnish with fried cashew nuts, fried onions and raisins if you prefer.