Muttu Sambha (Sri Lankan Pearl Rice)

I wanted some rice to serve with the beef rendang I made the other day. Plain boiled/steamed rice is perfectly acceptable, but I wanted to try something a little different. Possibly I should've looked for a Malaysian or Indonesian coconut rice recipe, but I had this recipe handy already, so I went with that.

I chose to make this with brown rice. If you want to use white rice (which is what the original recipe is written for), you'll need to reduce the cooking time accordingly. (I realize that swapping out the rice probably means it's not technically muttu sambha anymore, but it was tasty and I'm not sure what other name to give it so, oh well...)

Muttu Sambha

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. minced lemongrass
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 (3") cinnamon stick
• 1 c. short-grain brown rice
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat (sauté medium on InstantPot).
2. Add onion, lemongrass, cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon and cook until onion is light brown (~5 minutes).
3. Add rice, salt, turmeric, coconut milk, and water.
4. Cover and pressure cook on high for 14 minutes.
5. Allow a 10-minute natural release, then remove lid and fluff the rice.