Black Sticky Rice with Sesame Seeds
Serves 4.
Ingredients
200 g/7 oz/1 cup black glutinous rice
sea salt
1 1/2 cups freshly grated coconut
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
jaggery or dark brown sugar
Directions
Wash the rice well, put it in a bowl and soak overnight or for at least 3 hours in cold water to cover. Drain the rice, saving the water. Place rice in a heatproof bowl and add 3/4 cup of the soaking water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place the bowl on a trivet in a large pan with well-fitting lid and steam over boiling water for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until rice is tender and water absorbed. Add more boiling water to the pan as necessary.
If a pressure cooker is available it takes half the time. Place bowl on a trivet with about 5 cm (2 in) water in the cooker, and cook at half pressure for 25-30 minutes. Serve with coconut, a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds lightly bruised with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and jaggery either shaved with a sharp knife or cut into small pieces with a chopper.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)