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Shwe Htamin
Serves 4 Prep 5 min Cook 25 min Total 30 min Type Side Origin Burmese

Shwe Htamin

Burma's golden rice: turmeric-tinted rice lightly fried with sliced onion, then cooked absorption-style with salt. The everyday side for stronger curries.

Serves 4 Prep 5 minutes Cook 25 minutes Units Rate

Overview

The Burmese golden rice, the everyday turmeric-stained rice that turns up alongside curries and stews on the home table. You toast long-grain rice briefly in oil with a chopped onion, turmeric and a small handful of cashews (optional but traditional). Water and salt go in, the pot covers tightly, and the rice cooks undisturbed for eighteen minutes. A five-minute rest off the heat finishes the steam. The grains come out the colour of pale gold, perfumed faintly with onion and turmeric, ready to soak up whatever curry sauce hits the plate.

Ingredients

  • 400 g long-grain rice (jasmine or basmati - rinsed thoroughly)
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 onion (small, very finely chopped)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 700 ml hot water
  • 2 tablespoons cashew halves (lightly toasted, optional)
  • 2 tablespoons crispy fried shallots (to finish)

Method

Stage 1 - Rinse

  1. Rinse the rice in 3 changes of cold water; drain well.

Stage 2 - Toast

  1. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.
  2. Soften the onion 5 minutes until pale gold.
  3. Stir in the turmeric; sizzle 10 seconds.
  4. Add the rice; toast 1 minute, stirring, until each grain is coated yellow.

Stage 3 - Cook

  1. Pour in the hot water; add salt; stir once.
  2. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to the lowest setting.
  3. Cover tightly; cook 18 minutes undisturbed.

Stage 4 - Rest

  1. Remove from heat (lid on); rest 5 minutes.
  2. Fluff with a fork.

Stage 5 - Serve

  1. Top with toasted cashews and crispy fried shallots.
  2. Eat alongside any Burmese curry.

Notes

  • Turmeric staining: Mind your hands and your wooden spoon - turmeric stains permanently.
  • Don't lift the lid: Steam does the cooking. Lifting it bleeds it away.
  • Cashews: A Burmese-Indian crossover touch; not in every household but lovely with stronger curries.

Storage

  • Refrigerate 3 days; reheat covered with a splash of water.
  • Doesn't freeze well.

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Jhal muri (literally "spicy puffed rice") is the most democratic snack in Bengal: assembled in seconds from a tin trunk by a muriwala, tipped into a rolled-newspaper cone, and eaten standing on a pavement for the price of a few rupees. The base is muri (puffed rice), and everything else is built around the principle of contrast. Raw mustard oil is the soul of the dish, sharp and nasal and slightly bitter; without it you have a salad, not jhal muri. The vegetables stay raw and crunchy, onion, green chilli, cucumber, tomato, chopped into tiny dice so each spoonful gets one of each. Peanuts and chana chur (or sev) add fat and crunch; black salt and chaat masala add the funky-tangy depth that makes Indian street snacks addictive. The lime goes in last so the puffs don't soften. This is a dish where technique matters less than ingredient quality: muri must be crisp (refresh in a dry pan if it's gone soft), mustard oil must be the proper pungent kind, and the lime must be fresh. It is everywhere in Bengal, tea-time at home, train platforms, the Maidan on a winter afternoon, and there is no recipe in any cookbook that quite captures the feel of it being mixed in front of you in a paper cone.

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