Nasi Arab * Nasi Biryani * Nasi Minyak

Nasi Arab uses spices from the wet market outside Makkah. You can smell the spices even without entering the spice shop.

Nasi Biryani uses Indian spices (made in Malaysia) which is more spicy than the spices used in Nasi Arab.

Both the above rice dishes are garnished with fried onions, roasted almonds, cashew nuts, sprigs of parsley, coriander, peppermint and diced celery leaves and spring onion. You will need a sour dish to accompany the rice, to take down all the fatty rice. Refer Acar buah.

Nasi Minyak (or Nasi Bawang as I call it) is rice prepared with fried large onions. The onion slices are fried in plenty of butter or ghee until light brown (sometimes a bit more brown is tastier) and spices (cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom pods, cloves, fennel etc). Then the fried onions are added to the rice either before cooking or about the time the rice is half cooked. Salt is added to taste. This rice is very fragrant. It is usually served at Aidilfitri/Aidiladha at Perth Mosque. It is very nice to eat this rice at the mosque under the tree in winter!