*Coconut Rice with Peanut Sauce and Cucumber Relish

• servings: 4

Ingredients

Cucumber and Ginger Relish:

1/2 cup/120ml rice vinegar (or other white vinegar)

6 tbsp/80g granulated sugar

½ cucumber, quartered lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced (1⅓ cups/200g)

3/4 oz/20g ginger, peeled and julienned

1 small, hot red chile (or 2 bird's-eye chiles, if you like the heat), halved, seeded, and thinly sliced lengthwise

½ oz/10g cilantro, stems finely chopped, leaves roughly torn 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve

Salt

Peanut Sauce:

1½ cups/200g unsalted roasted peanuts

1 onion, roughly chopped (1 cup/150g)

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3-4 lemongrass stalks, white part only, sliced (1/4 Cup/20g)

⅓ oz/10g ginger, peeled and sliced

¼ cup/60g sambal oelek

½ cup/120ml vegetable oil

1 and 3/4 cups/450ml water

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

1/4 cup/50g granulated sugar

3 oz/80g tamarind purée (use either liquid tamarind concentrate from a jar or make your own from a block)

Coconut Rice:

2½ cups/500g jasmine rice

13.5 oz/400ml can of coconut milk

6 fresh lime leaves, stalks removed, leaves cut thinly

Directions

1. First make the relish. Put the vinegar and sugar into a small saucepan, along with ¼ cup/60ml of water and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 minute, stirring once or twice, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and, once cool, add the cucumber, ginger, chile, and cilantro stems. Transfer to a sealed container and keep in the fridge.

2. Next make the peanut sauce. Place the peanuts in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped: pulse them well but not into a powder. Set aside for now.

3. Place the onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, and sambal elek in a blender or food processor. Blitz well to form a fine purée.

4. Put the oil into a medium sauté pan and place on medium heat (it looks like a lot of oil but it's okay). After 1 minute, add the lemongrass purée, then decrease the heat to medium-low and cook for 25 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce deepens in color and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the chopped peanuts, along with the water, and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, until a slick of oil starts to float to the top. Add the paprika, coriander, sugar, tamarind purée, and ½ teaspoon of salt, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, set aside to cool, then transfer to a bowl. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

5. Put the rice, coconut milk, and lime leaves into an 11-inch/28cm nonstick sauté pan (for which you have a tight-fitting lid) with 3 cups/700ml of water and 1¼ teaspoons of salt. Place on high heat and bring to a boil, stirring from time to time. As soon as it starts to boil, decrease the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 30 minutes, covered. Increase the heat to high and continue to cook, still covered, for 15 minutes, until the rice forms a golden crust at the bottom. Remove the pan from the heat and let the rice cool and set for 5 minutes, undisturbed. To unmold it, run a flexible spatula all around the edges of the pan, then place a large plate on top and carefully turn the rice out.

6. Strain the relish-the liquid can be discarded-and fold in the cilantro leaves. Warm up the peanut sauce and spoon it over the rice. Top with the relish and serve with wedges of lime alongside.

Notes

There are peanut sauces and there are peanut sauces. Then there is Helen's peanut sauce. It takes a bit longer to make than versions that use peanut butter, but it's worth it. Make more than you need, ready to have with grilled or roasted chicken (we suggest the sambal spiced chicken on page 125), shrimp, tofu-or to dress raw or lightly blanched vegetables. As it is here-served with rice-the dish makes a hearty vegan main. Pictured on page 126.

Getting ahead: The peanut sauce can be made up to 5 days ahead if kept in the fridge, or longer if frozen. The relish keeps well in the fridge for up to 2 days.