This golden rice dish reminded me a lot of Chinese desserts, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some cultural influences coming from there. It was good, satisfying, though not sweet enough to my Western tastes - even though I increased the sugar by one tablespoon and used sweetened coconut instead of freshly grated one. I also found it too oily. Moreover, I probably didn't cook the rice for long enough, so that the final product couldn't be discretely cut into shapes and it was better eaten with a spoon. So if you make it, make sure the rice is very dry before you put it in the oven.

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Golden Rice

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 cup long-grain rice, washed and drained
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds.

Instructions

Heat the oven to 250F

Heat oil in a medium-size sauce pan. Fry rice for 3 minutes, stirring. Add coconut milk, turmeric, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for a couple of minutes until the liquid looks thick. Turn the heat low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until all the liquid has evaporated.

Fluff it up with a fork and mix in the grated coconut.

Grease an ovenproof dish and pour the mixture into it. Smooth the top. Press down firmly. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Adapted from a recipe at Asian Online Recipes.