Nasi Kebuli is the Arab-Indonesian version of pilau rice that is cooked in spiced meat broth. It’s deliciously fragrant with a deep flavor of meat goodness.
Wash and rinse the rise. Soak them in water and set them aside.
Using a food chopper or food processor, chop the onions until they turn into a paste.
Heat the oil and butter on a large cooking pan until the butter is melted.
Add the onion paste, ginger and garlic paste, ground coriander, ground cumin, black pepper, salt, black cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and lemongrass. Stir and fry until the spices release aroma and the liquid from the onion has evaporated. It takes approximately 5 minutes.
Then add the lamb pieces to the spices, and turn around until all the meat is well coated with spices. Cook at medium heat until the meat is brown.
Pour water into the meat and cook at medium heat until the water reaches boiling point. I use hot water from the tap. Then lower the heat and slow cook the meat until it is tender and the broth has reduced to about 4½ cups. The broth slightly thickens and looks shiny.
Strain the rice and add it to the meat. Give it a good stir and let it cook at medium heat until the rice grains absorb almost all the liquid.
Line the inside lid with a kitchen towel and put the lid on the pot. Turn the heat low and let it cook until steam comes out. It takes approximately 10-12 minutes to steam.
Once the rice is fully cooked, you can stir in 1-2 tablespoons of clarified butter (ghee) though this is optional.
Garnish the rice with fried shallots and serve it with Acar Timun or spicy cucumber tomato salad.
Notes
I often use premade ginger and garlic paste. I make them in bulk and freeze them. And when I run out of them, I sometimes get ready-made ones from the shop. If you want to make the paste only for this recipe, ½-inch of ginger and 3 cloves of garlic are enough. You can blend them into a paste together in a food chopper. You can use any neutral cooking oil you like i.e. vegetable oil, or sunflower oil.
Originally, Nasi Kebuli uses Minyak Samin which is clarified butter/ ghee. So feel free to use it instead of ordinary butter. Stirring in an extra spoon or two of ghee when the rice is cooked will give extra flavor and depth to the dish.
Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.