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I can't express my absolute pleasure in posting this Singaporean rice recipe, firstly because I love to eat this juicy, flavorful, sweet, and sour rice. Secondly, this dish originated in my city, Karachi, Pakistan.
Singaporean Rice is the main course comprising seasoned rice, vegetable and chicken-based sweet and sour sauce, and boiled noodles. The dish is garnished with fried garlic and chilies making it very attractive and mouth-watering. The dish is often served on a platter and is very famous Pakistani fusion food.
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Origin
Don't be misled by "Singaporean" in the name. The dish never saw Singapore and has nothing to do with it. It was intentionally giving a fancy and misleading name to enthrall the wedding crowd with an exotic name. This dish originated in the hands of Bohra caterers somewhere in 2000 -2002. It was the time when the culture of providing a Menu beforehand in weddings had just begun and the exotic name was the need of the moment.
I remember, in every other Bohra wedding that took place in winter of those years, Singaporean rice was served with tomato corn soup. And, it was always exciting and something different from biryani and yakhni pulao. (The other local rice alternatives.) However, this dish didn't get into a local Karachi wedding scene until 2010 and has been pleasing everyone since then.
Taste
It is layered rice with
- plain or vegetable fried rice
- sweet and sour chicken and vegetable gravy (similar to the Manchurian sauce),
- a Russian sauce (mayonnaise and ketchup-based)
- some noodles to decorate;
- and fried garlic and chilies to finish the dish. (The fried garlic and chilies were inspired Khao suey)
I know, the dish sounds like a medley of flavors with super juicy bite and that's exactly what it is. A burst of flavors in every bite. One more confusion that I wish to clear is the noodles is the recipe are just decoration. The rice tastes great with the sauce and two many noodles are simply meddling with the texture and flavor. Although I have eaten this dish since my teens, I still had to try it three times before getting that caterer-like taste. I hope you enjoy this recipe, please don't hesitate to share your opinion in comments.
How to make it?
Marinate chicken
Marinate chicken with ginger, garlic, green chilli, Kashmiri chilli, red chilli flakes, cornflour, lemon juice, and soy sauce. Let it rest for 30 minutes at least or preferably overnight in the fridge. Then cook chicken on medium heat for 20 minutes until chicken is tender.
I used plain rice in this recipe to keep it simple. You may make vegetable fried rice, garlic rice too.
What makes this chicken really yummy is the Russian sauce. Just mix ketchup, chili garlic sauce, mayonnaise and, milk in the bowl, and sauce is ready. You can make this sauce in advance a store in the fridge.
- Crispy garlic: The trick to crispy garlic is slice garlic and do not chop it. (Yes, I have chopped in the photo, but you please don't chop it, slice it.) Then fry garlic alone until golden. Keep the heat on medium. Remove to a kitchen towel.
- Fry Chillies: Now fry chillies separately in the same oil.
- Sautee Spaghetti: In same oil give boil spaghetti a few stirs till it gets slightly warm. Set aside.
Make Gravy
- On a side of the pan mix, fry seasonings for a few seconds then add all the vegetables. ( You may use other vegetables of your choice.)
- When carrots are soft and semi-cooked, add the sauces ketchup, chili garlic sauce, and vinegar.
- Give it all a stir and add cornflour slurry and water as needed for a thick gravy. Continues cooking on medium heat until sauce thickens. Keep stirring.
- Add cooked chicken. Do a taste test. Add chicken tikka or tandoori masala only is needed.
- Add green onions, mix gravy is ready. Do a taste test and adjust salt or more water if needed.
- To assemble: Fill a plate with rice, and spread the chicken gravy over it. Decorate with noodles and top with Russian sauce. Finally, sprinkle crispy garlic and fried chilies. Serve hot.
Hungry for Rice? Check these!
- Chicken Manchurian and Rice
- Orange Chicken and Rice with Tang
- Barbecue Chicken and Rice (Tikka flavor)
- Smoky Chicken and Rice with tomato basil sauce
- Pakistani Chicken Biryani
If you try this Singaporean Rice recipe, I'd LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments. Your 5-ratings motivate me to do my best. Stay connected for more recipes and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.
📖 Recipe
Singaporean Rice
Ingredients
FOR MARINATE CHICKEN
- 500 grams chicken , cut in cubes. (about 2 chicken breast)
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon green chilli paste
- ½ tablespoon ginger paste
- ½ tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder, substitutes with paprika
- 2 teaspoon red chilli flakes, or to taste
FOR GRAVY
seasoning
- 3 tablespoon oil
- ½ tablespoon ginger paste
- ½ tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 chicken cube/bullion
vegetables
- 1 cup carrot, cubbed
- 1 cup potato, cubbed and boiled for 5 minutes
- ⅓ cup chopped capsicum
- ½ cup broccoli florets, (or onions cut in cubes)
sauces
- ½ cup tomato ketchup
- 4 tablespoon chilli garlic sauce, or spicy ketchup
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
other
- 4 tablespoon cornflour, mixed in 4 tablespoon of water
- ½ tablespoon Chicken Tikka Spice Mix, optional to make gravy spicy
- 1 to 1½ cups water, or more for gravy
- 5 tablespoon chopped green onions
FOR RUSSIAN SAUCE
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup tomato ketchup
- 2 tablespoon chilli garlic sauce, or spicy ketchup
- 4 tablespoon milk or water to thin sauce
FOR RICE
- 2 cups rice, soaked
- 2 pepper
- 2 tablespoon salt , or to taste
GARNISH
- 2-3 tablespoon oil to fry
- 6 fat garlic, sliced
- 6-8 chillies, cut length-wise half and seeds removed
- 100 grams noodles, boiled ( about ¼ packet of 400 gram pack)
Instructions
Marinate Chicken
- In a bowl mix all the ingredients to marinate chicken. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight in fridge.
- Cover and cook chicken for 20 minutes on medium heat until tender. Set aside.
For gravy
- In another pan, heat oil and fry the ingredient of seasoning for few seconds. Then, add the vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes until the carrots are soft, keep stirring.
- Now add the sauces, mix well.
- Then add the cornflour slurry and water. Mix and cook until sauce thicken.
- Add chicken and green onions. Mix well and do a taste test. Adjust tikka masala only if needed. Also adjust salt as needed. Gravy is ready.
Other Preps ( Do prep steps simultaneously)
- Mix all the ingredient of Russian sauce in a bowl and set aside.
- Cook 2 cups rice with salt and peppercorn. Set aside.
- Fry garlic in oil until golden and crispy. Set aside on kitchen towel to crisp.
- In the same oil fry chilies until you see a few brown spots.
- In the same oil, fry spaghetti for a minutes until warm.
Assemble
- In a plate serve rice and top it with alyer of gravy. Spread some noodles over it. Finish with russian sauce, garlic and fried chillies. Serve hot.
Notes
- You may switch vegetables as per preference.
- It can be served with fried or garlic rice too instead of plain rice.
- You may add spaghetti in gravy if you like.
- If you like more spaghetti, you may double the measures and add them to the gravy.
- You can switch spaghetti for macaroni or other pasta too.
- Chilli garlic sauce is spicy garlic ketchup. Substitute it with more ketchup, ½ teaspoon garlic powder and ½ teaspoon red chilli powder.
Tabassum Syeda says
Not only the history and origins of the recipe is stated in clear, simple and organised manner, with the headings and sub-headings making everything very clear. And of course like all Mariam's recipes, it's very delicious! It's worth all the steps, the portion sizes and clear instructions. Keep posting,Love.
Mariam Sodawater says
Hi Tabassum, your words are so kind. Definitely mean so much to me.
Arwa says
I doubled the qty and followed the recipe exactly the way it was.The dish turned out very good.Prep time was double for me as I was making it for first time.
Recipe 52 says
Thanks a lot for the lovely and detailed feedback. I look into prep time again. Thanks for star ratings.
Rabab says
Hello mariam this recipe sounds very delicious.. but this is for 4 servings.. what if there is a heavy dessert and an appetizer along with some main course and this rice dish in the end.. is this recipe of 4servings enough for 8 people(1 thaal)??
Rabab Taha says
Hello mariam this recipe sounds very delicious.. but this is for 4 servings.. what if there is a heavy dessert and an appetizer along with some main course and this rice dish in the end.. is this recipe of 4servings enough for 8 people(1 thaal)??
Recipe 52 says
Yeah... it should accommodate one thaal. Just increase 1 fist full of uncooked rice to be on the safe side.