Kiribath — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Rich, creamy rice cooked in thick coconut milk until it solidifies into a dense, sliceable cake, cut into diamond shapes and served with fiery lunu miris — Sri Lanka's ceremonial comfort food.

Ingredients

2 cups short-grain or samba rice
400ml thick coconut milk
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
Lunu miris for serving

Instructions

1 Wash rice thoroughly and cook in water until almost done, about 15 minutes.
2 Pour thick coconut milk over the rice, add salt, and stir gently on low heat.
3 Continue cooking and stirring until the coconut milk is fully absorbed and the rice is thick and creamy.
4 Transfer the milk rice to a flat tray greased with coconut oil. Press firmly into an even layer about 2 cm thick.
5 Allow to cool and set for 10 minutes. Cut into diamond or rectangle shapes.
6 Serve with lunu miris (chili-onion-lime relish) or jaggery (kithul treacle).

Did You Know?

Kiribath is the first solid food traditionally fed to a Sri Lankan baby at six months, and it is always the first food cooked in a new home for good luck.