Sri Lankan Kanji (Congee)
Sri Lankan Kanji is a comforting rice porridge made with rice, water, or coconut milk, and heavily flavored with spices, herbs, and vegetables. Often enjoyed for breakfast or during illness, it's a nourishing, versatile dish that's perfect no matter the time of day!
Ingredients
- 1½ cup red or basmati rice, washed
- ⅓ cup wheat
- 1 tbsp fenugreek
- 1 bulb garlic
- 6 cups water
- 500 grams meat
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tbsp garlic
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 pandan leaf
- 3 cloves
- ½ stick cinnamon
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 tsp salt
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ medium onion diced
- 1 medium tomato diced
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups coconut milk or water
Instructions
- To a large pot, add the red (or white) rice, wheat, fenugreek, and water to cover. Set aside to soak.
- Add meat, ginger, garlic, curry leaves, a pandan leaf, cloves, cinnamon, cumin powder, black pepper, salt, chili powder, onion, tomato, and water to a pressure cooker. Close the lid and bring the cooker to full pressure. Cook for about 35 minutes until soft, then allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Don't have a pressure cooker? Simply add it to a regular pot and allow to cook for an hour or so until soft.
- After 30 minutes of soaking, rinse out the rice mixture and then add the garlic cloves and 6 cups of water. Cook for an hour on the stove.
- Once the rice is cooked and the liquid has been reduced (there should be about 1 cup remaining), mash with a wooden spoon to break the grains. Add the meat curry along with its gravy, follow with the coconut milk (or water) and cover and cook for another hour or until the liquid has been absorbed. Remove the bones from the meat and give it a light blend with an immersion blender.
- Transfer to serving bowls, top with fried onion and coconut milk. Enjoy warm!