Kiribath (Sri Lankan Milk Rice)

Kiribath (කිරිබත්) is Sri Lankan milk rice: white rice boiled until soft, then cooked a little longer in thick coconut milk with salt until the grains cling together. While still hot it is pressed flat on a plate or a piece of banana leaf, and once it has set it is cut into diamonds or squares. The name is simply kiri, milk, and bath, rice, and the milk in question is the milk of the coconut palm, not dairy milk.

It is the dish Sri Lankans cook for beginnings: the first meal of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, breakfast on the first day of each month, birthdays, weddings and other celebrations. It is also an ordinary breakfast in many homes. For the traditions around it, how it is served at New Year and the sweet and green gram versions, see the page on milk rice and the occasions it marks. This page is the full method.

Which rice should you use?

Kiribath needs a rice that turns soft and slightly sticky when fully cooked, so the grains bind into a slab you can slice. Sri Lankan cooks use white raw rice, often a short-grain or kekulu (unparboiled) rice. Outside Sri Lanka, jasmine rice or a short-grain rice works well, and basmati will do if it is cooked until very soft. Avoid parboiled rice: its grains stay separate and the kiribath falls apart when cut.

Why does kiribath crumble or turn out wet?

• It crumbles. The rice was not cooked soft enough before the coconut milk went in, or it was cooked too dry. Start with very soft rice and stir the coconut milk in well.
• It is wet and will not set. The coconut milk was not cooked long enough. Return it to a low heat and keep stirring until it pulls away from the pan.
• It tastes of raw coconut. Give it 2 to 3 minutes more on the heat after the milk is absorbed.
• It is hard to spread. Kiribath firms up as it cools, so press it flat straight from the pan.

What do you serve with kiribath?

The classic partner is lunu miris, a sharp relish of red onion, chilli, Maldive fish, salt and lime. The mild, creamy rice and the hot, salty relish are meant to be eaten together, usually by hand. Other favourites are seeni sambol, katta sambol, a fish curry or chicken curry. For a sweet plate, especially for children, kiribath is served with jaggery, sugar or a ripe banana.

When is kiribath made?

At the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April, the hearth is lit and the first pot of kiribath is cooked at the auspicious times announced each year as the Avurudu nakath, and it becomes the family's first meal of the new year, set out with the sweets of the New Year table. Many households also cook it on the first morning of every month, and for birthdays, weddings, a new job or a new home.

Variations

• Mung kiribath. Green gram (mung beans), soaked overnight, is cooked with the rice before the coconut milk goes in.
• Imbul kiribath. A sweet version: kiribath is spread on a banana leaf, filled with coconut cooked with jaggery and rolled into a cylinder.
• Pandan. A piece of rampe leaf in the pot, as in the card, adds a light fragrance.

How do you store it?

Kiribath is best eaten on the day it is made, while still soft. Cover leftovers, refrigerate once cool and eat within a day. It hardens in the fridge; steam it or warm it gently, covered, with a spoonful of water or coconut milk to soften it again.