It’s runny nose season in Australia. Last year I put up the recipe for Kothamalli Thani – which my ammah has on tap for us when we are sick. Today, on my request, she made the family Kanji.

There are many different ways to make Kanji – this recipe uses coriander leaves.

As I was writing this post, I learnt that அப்பா (appah) and அம்மா (ammah) were growing up – they didn’t know what coriander leaves were. They would use the seeds in recipes ( ie. kothamalli thani) but not the leaves.  So for this dish, they would use something called தூதுவளை (thoodhuvalay) or Solanum Tilobatum: a herb used to treat the common cold, cough and asthma (according to wikipedia).

The conversation then moved onto how self sufficient life was in இலங்கை (Illangai). Most families grew all their veges and greens, and would use them for both food and medicinal purposes – milk was fresh from the cows –  the chicken laid the eggs etc.

Here in Sydney, which is our home in exile, my அம்மா has a great vege patch in their tiny yard, something I am yet to master.  Anythng edible keeps getting smashed by insects in mine!

Back to Kanji. The Chinese have a similar dish called Congee and the Japanese call their one Okayu – served during illness. I am sure we could find a variation of this dish all over the world.

This dish uses red rice – white rice’s more nutritional sibling.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 80g  red onion chopped into tiny pieces
• 100g of coriander leaves and stems
• 5 hot chillies (or as much as you want – the more the better for a runny nose)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup red rice
• 1 lime squeezed
• 1 tsp salt (maybe a tiny bit more – depending on taste)

1. Wash the red rice, add water and boil.
2. Grind the coriander with 1/2 cup water and set aside. We don’t have a grinder, so we did it the old fashioned way (see photo below).
3. When the rice is cooked, add the salt, chillies, onion, coriander and coconut milk – bring to boil and cook for about 5 mins.
4. Remove from stove.
5. Add lime juice and serve hot.  I would add half of the lime and see if you like the taste, before adding all of it!