Lamprais

Ingredients

• 400 g basmati rice, rinsed
• 700 ml chicken or beef stock
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 300 g chicken thigh, diced
• 300 g pork shoulder or beef, diced
• 1 onion, chopped, for the curry
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 250 g minced beef
• 1 slice white bread, soaked in milk
• 1 small onion, grated
• 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
• 0.25 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 40 g dried breadcrumbs
• 3 onions, thinly sliced, for the sambol
• 2 tbsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 2 tbsp jaggery
• 1 tsp Maldive fish flakes
• 5 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 aubergine, sliced and fried
• 2 eggs, hard-boiled and halved
• 4 banana leaves, about 30 cm square
• 2 tsp salt, in total for the curries

Before you cook

• Dice the chicken and pork into 2 cm pieces.
• Chop and slice the onions for each of the three components and keep them separate.
• Soak the bread slice in a little milk.
• Hard-boil two eggs, cool them and cut them in half.
• Slice the aubergine into rounds and salt them for 10 minutes.
• Bruise the lemongrass with the back of a knife.

Steps

1. Season the diced chicken and pork with the curry powder, chilli powder, turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt, then leave them for 15 minutes.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a pan over medium heat and fry the chopped onion for 5 minutes.
3. Add the ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves and bruised lemongrass and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the marinated meats and brown them for 6 minutes.
5. Pour in the coconut milk, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes, until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick.
6. Squeeze the milk from the soaked bread and mix it with the minced beef, grated onion, pepper, nutmeg and egg.
7. Roll the mixture into 12 small balls and coat them in the breadcrumbs.
8. Fry the frikkadels in shallow oil for 5 minutes, turning, until browned all over, then drain them.
9. Fry the salted aubergine slices in the same oil until dark gold, then drain them too.
10. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wide pan and fry the sliced onions for 15 minutes, until soft and deep brown.
11. Stir in the chilli flakes, Maldive fish, tamarind and jaggery, then cook for 5 minutes to a sticky, dark sambol.
12. Melt the ghee in a heavy pot and fry the finely chopped onion with the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves for 4 minutes.
13. Add the rinsed rice and turn it in the ghee for 2 minutes.
14. Pour in the hot stock, add the remaining salt, cover, and cook over low heat for 12 minutes.
15. Rest the rice off the heat for 10 minutes, then fork it through.
16. Heat the oven to 180C.
17. Pass each banana leaf briefly over a gas flame, or dip it in boiling water, so it turns glossy and pliable.
18. Spoon a quarter of the rice into the centre of each leaf and flatten it into a round.
19. Arrange the meat curry, three frikkadels, a spoonful of seeni sambol, half a boiled egg and some fried aubergine around the rice.
20. Fold the leaf over into a sealed parcel and secure it with a cocktail stick or kitchen string.
21. Bake the parcels for 20 minutes so the flavours run down into the rice.
22. Serve the parcels closed and let each person open their own at the table.