Ramadan 2010
Follow the Tradition of Thai Muslim Cooking on Phuket Island during the Ramadan
Now
Phuket Chicken Biryani Rice, also known as Kao Mok Gai, is a well known Thai-Muslim rice dish. Southern Thai cuisine gets its distinguished flavor from the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. Growing up in Phuket I loved the diversity of our local cuisines. Our family cooked Thai and Chinese cuisines and at the market I enjoyed Thai Muslim cooking. After Persian Muslims settled in Phuket, their descendants took their traditional Biryani Rice and created a Thai variation, Koa Mok Gai. It is cooked for special occasions like weddings or during Ramadan. It is not a common dish to cook at home but most of the time we can purchase it from Kao Mok Gai vendors. If you want to try it when you visit Phuket, stop by an open air market in Bangtao or Kamala.
Over the past 10 years I have stayed in contact with a few chefs from Bangtao and Kamala Village. I learned to cook Kao Mok Gai from Varunee, my Thai chef for the culinary tour in Phuket. Her mom is a renowned caterer among the Muslim population in the Bangtao area. Over the years, I have written down many versions of her Kao Mok Gai.
The other day I wanted an easy lunch, which led to the creation of a quick and easy version of Kao Mok Gai. It took me 10 minutes to make, since I already had the ingredients in the house. It may take you 15 to 20 minutes to prepare the ingredients.
If you have an old-style rice cooker that is easy to clean, I recommend using that. Otherwise place everything in a Pyrex 9″x13″ pan and cover neatly with foil, bake in an oven at 350F for 25 minutes and let rest for 10 minutes before removing the foil and serving.
Phuket Chicken Baryani Rice
Kao Mok Gai
Serves: 4 to 6
Active Time: 10 minutes
2 cups jasmine rice, basmati rice, or any long grain rice 2 1/2 cups water or chicken broth 1 tablespoon fried garlic or shallot, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish 1 tablespoon canola oil, garlic oil or shallot oil 2 tablespoons Madras curry powder 1 tablespoon lemongrass powder 1/2 teaspoon galangal or ginger powder, optional 1 bay leaf 6 pieces fried or baked chicken Rinse the rice and drain, put in a rice cooker with water, fried garlic, canola oil, curry powder, lemongrass powder, galangal powder and bay leaf. Mix well and place cooked chicken in the center of the rice cooker, cover, turn on rice cooker. It takes about 30 minutes to cook and then let it sit for 15 more minutes before serving. Serving suggestions:Buffet Style: Place rice and chicken on a nice platter and garnish the top with fried garlic or shallot. Served with condiments suggested below (please also see photo).
Individual serving: One cup rice, 1 piece chicken, garnish with fried garlic served with condiment and sauce.
Condiments: Sweet chili sauce, sliced cucumber, sliced tomato, cilantro and green onion.
Thai Vegetarian Option: Saute shiitake mushroom, fried firm tofu, raisin and cashew nut. Thai Cooking for Kids Gluten-Free Recipe
Then
Here is a famous Kao Mok Gai prepared by Varunee’s mom for 250 children. I hosted this event for school children at the Kamala Beach School 6 month after the Tsunami. We served the food at the temporary kitchen in July 2005.
© 2010 Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen I Love Thai cooking
Pranee teaches Thai Cooking classes in the Seattle, Edmonds, Redmond, Issaquah, Lynwood and Olympia areas. Her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com To learn more on the history of Biryani Rice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani
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