Coconut Kiribath & Onion Sambal

📝 Ingredients

• 240 g sushi rice + 500 ml water
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 1 tsp fine salt (¾ for the rice, ¼ for the sambal)
• 4 eggs
• 1 red onion (about 150 g)
• 1 fresh red chilli + 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 lime

🍴 Utensils

• Heavy-based saucepan with lid
• Small saucepan
• Square dish, about 20 cm
• Baking paper
• Spatula
• Bowl

📖 Steps

1. Bring the small saucepan of water to the boil, gently lower the eggs in with a spoon and cook for 10 min at a gentle boil. Plunge them into very cold water for 5 min, then peel. Keep in the fridge: they keep for 3 days.
2. Rinse the rice in the bowl of cold water, rubbing it between your fingers, 2 or 3 times, until the water is almost clear. Drain it and put it in the heavy-based saucepan with the 500 ml water.
3. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then cover and cook for 15 min over a low heat, until the water is almost completely absorbed and the grains are very tender. Test a grain: it should squash easily between your fingers.
4. Mix the coconut milk with ¾ tsp salt and pour it over the rice. Cook for 5 to 8 min over a low heat, stirring constantly with the spatula, until the milk is absorbed and the rice forms a thick, sticky mass that comes away from the sides.
5. Line the dish with baking paper and immediately spread the hot rice in it to a thickness of about 2 cm. Press it down firmly with the back of a wet spoon and smooth the top: the more tightly packed it is, the better the diamonds will hold.
6. Leave to cool slightly for 20 min, then cut into diamonds: cut parallel lines 5 cm apart, then more lines on the diagonal. Run the blade under water between each cut. Once cold, the diamonds keep for 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
7. For the lunu miris, the Sri Lankan onion sambal, chop the red onion very finely. Deseed and chop the fresh chilli, then wash your hands. Mix with the chilli flakes, ¼ tsp salt and the lime juice, crushing with a spoon for 1 min.
8. Serve the diamonds at room temperature or warmed for 1 min in the microwave, with a spoonful of lunu miris and a halved hard-boiled egg per person. The sambal keeps for 3 days in the fridge in a sealed jar.