Sri Lankan Herbal Kola Kanda (Rice and Herb Porridge)

About This Recipe

Kola kanda is a savory herbal rice porridge deeply tied to Sri Lankan home remedies and daily breakfast habits, made by cooking rice down until fully broken and creamy, then blending it with a generous handful of gotukola (Centella asiatica, also called pennywort) along with coconut milk until the porridge turns a pale, earthy green. It's valued as much for how it's believed to cool the body and aid digestion as for its taste, a category of food that sits somewhere between a meal and a folk remedy. The rice is traditionally cooked in a claypot over a slow fire until it fully breaks down into a smooth, spoonable porridge, a texture different from the firmer rice porridges found in East Asian cooking. Fresh gotukola leaves, foraged or bought in bunches at Sri Lankan markets, are blended raw into the hot porridge at the end so their slightly bitter, grassy flavor stays bright rather than being cooked out. Kola kanda is traditionally served alongside something sweet, most often jaggery or treacle-drizzled hoppers, to offset its savory, slightly bitter, herbal profile, and it remains one of the most common breakfasts eaten across Sri Lanka regardless of income or region.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 cupred or white rice
• 6 cupswater
• 2 cupsgotukola (pennywort) leaves(washed)
• 1 cupcoconut milk
• 1garlic clove
• 1 small pieceginger
• 0.75 tspfine sea salt
• 2 tbspjaggery or palm sugar(to serve alongside)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the rice down

   Simmer rice in water over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 30 minutes until it fully breaks down into a smooth, thick porridge.

2. 2

   Blend the greens

   Blend gotukola leaves, garlic, ginger and a splash of the hot porridge into a smooth green paste.

3. 3

   Combine

   Stir the blended greens into the pot of porridge along with coconut milk and salt.

   Add the greens off the heat or on very low heat — prolonged boiling dulls their bright color and grassy flavor.

4. 4

   Warm through

   Warm gently for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, without letting it come to a hard boil.

5. 5

   Serve

   Serve warm in bowls with a small piece of jaggery or a drizzle of palm sugar syrup on the side.

Variations

• •

  Substitute other leafy herbs like mukunuwenna (Alternanthera) if gotukola isn't available, though the flavor will differ.

• •

  Add a few curry leaves to the rice while it cooks for extra fragrance.

• •

  Make it richer with extra coconut milk stirred in just before serving for a creamier bowl.

Storage

Best made fresh, since the color and flavor fade on standing; if needed, refrigerate up to 1 day and reheat gently on the stove, adding a splash of water or coconut milk to loosen it.

Frequently Asked Questions