Rice kottu may not be as popular as kottu made with paratha or Sri Lankan godamba roti, it is equally delicious. I started making delicious rice kottu at least once couple of weeks because of the salivating flavor infused by curry sauce and ease of making it for 30-minute weeknight curry dinner. Whenever I have extra curry ready to go and leftover rice, I am sure to make this dish.
Chicken curry is something I always have in my fridge or freezer ready to be pulled out for a delicious and convenient meal. Everyone in my family loves good hot and spicy chicken curry. I feel like I can never make enough of it. I am using that to flavor my rice today.
Not only with chicken curry, any medium to spicy meat curry can be made to prepare a similar rice dish. Oftentimes I prefer making a curry rice kottu over a simple fried rice when I have time to cook it on weekdays. This dish is more flavorful with the delicious sauce from the curry, and that same sauce can bring the day-old rice back to life much better than a fried rice can. Plus, I can mix in more vegetables to the rice than I can to a fried rice can.
Curry rice is a one pot dinner. It is better suited for dinner than for lunch because of the spice level. I prefer lighter version of savory rice options for my breakfast and spicier rice dishes for dinners.
Tips for making a great rice kottu
Key aspect of making a great curry rice is starting with a ridiculously hot griddle or wide cast iron skillet. You are looking at getting the pan scary hot upward of 400-degree Fahrenheit temperature. The extremely hot pan is going to instantly evaporate water in the curry sauce, basking the rice with hot steam, making it fluffy and delicious. sugars and spices are going to caramelize around the rice, and vegetables making flavored crusted coating. Rice is fluffy and soft with caramelized crust around meat and fried vegetables is match made in heaven for colder weeknight.
Feel free to pick any vegetable of your choice, if it matches with the flavor of curry that you will use to make this curry kottu rice. My favorite picks for chicken curry kottu rice are carrots, green beans, spring onions with peppers. If you prefer you can also add a handful of fried cashews and raisins as well.
My ideal choice of curries to make curry rice or curry rice kottu would be medium spicy to spicy meat curries. The spice and heat level in these curries are perfect to flavor vegetables and rice without having to adjust seasoning a lot. I will add an extra teaspoon of red curry powder or salt and squeeze a little lime juice on top when I am craving very spicy curry rice kottu, otherwise I will just use curry sauce and fat from the curry to flavor the dish.
What curries will make a great rice kottu?
Flavored oil in curry rice kottu
Use up that deliciously rendered chicken fat from the curry here for the extra flavors. Whenever I cook up a chicken curry with skin on, a duck curry or red pork curry I make sure to scoop up and save the rendered fat that comes on top of the curry. This is what I use that flavored oil for. Making fried rice and curry rice kottu. Flavored oil just makes the final dish ” Oh so over the top delicious” makes my rice kottu my own little weeknight “better than restaurant” food.
If you do not have flavored oil from any curries right now, fear not! You can use any kind of chili garlic oil, toasted sesame oil from Asian store. They are going to give out their own flavors but just as delicious rice kottu.
Sri Lankan style chicken rice kottu
Equipment
- 1 Griddle pan or wide skillet preferably cast iron or carbon steel
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cooked day old rice
- 1/2 cup shredded curry chicken meat from the curry
- 1 small, diced carrot
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced leek greens or chopped Bok-choy
- 2 tbsp thinly sliced green beans
- 1 tablespoon of minced red onion
- 2 minced green chili
- 1 tablespoon of finely sliced curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon of crushed ginger and garlic
- 1/2 cup of chicken curry sauce
- 1 teaspoon of red curry powder
- teaspoon of cayenne pepper optional for a very spicy rice dish
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon of oil Use skimmed off rendered oil from the curry for extra flavor
Instructions
- Heat a skillet extremely hot, up to the smoke point.
- Add onions, green chili, carrots, and green beans. Add the tablespoon of oil on vegetables. cook for few seconds.
- Follow with ginger garlic paste and Sautee few more seconds.
- Add diced chicken pieces from the curry add half of the curry sauce let everything cook until flavor absorbs to vegetables.
- Taste and adjust the salt and add curry powders.
- Add rice and remaining curry sauce and cook keeping griddle still hot and mixing constantly until sauce is absorbed. Finished rice should be just moist, fluffy with caramelized edges.
- Finish with curry leaves and mix that in.
Some of my favorite weeknight dinner inspirations
My inspiration to write up my curry rice kottu came from watching Marion Grasby making Indonesian nasi goreng on you tube. Nasi goreng is hugely popular in Sri Lanka and one of my personal favorites too. Along with curry kottu and nasi-goreng, check out some of my favorite dinner picks from Instagram bloggers, Swasti’s recipes and Khin’s kitchen.
