Nasi lemak is a popular dish across Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. It’s Malaysia’s national dish too. I love the flavour of the rice cooked in coconut milk and aromas from pandan and Indonesian bay leaf (daun salam). With butterfly pea flower, it gives a great colour to the rice while also being a natural antioxidant.

Preparation and cooking time: 40 minutes

Diet: Gluten free, dairy free

Serving: serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice
• ½tsp salt
• 20 butterfly pea flowers
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 pandan leaves (5cm each)
• 1.5cup water
• 2 bay leaves (daun salam)

 Instructions

1. Wash the pea flowers and trim the green bottom off.
2. In a small pan, add ½ cup water and butterfly pea flowers and bring it to boil for 5 minutes. Let it to cool. Strain the water once it cools down.
3. Wash and rinse the rice and add with water, salt, pandan leaves, bay leaves, coconut milk and pea flower juice into a rice cooker.

Serve with hardboiled egg, cucumber slices, fried anchovies, fried peanuts, sambal chilli and fried fish or chicken.