🍛 Nasi Kandar

Name: Nasi Kandar
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Malaysia · Penang
Ingredients: 600 g chicken pieces; 300 g squid, cleaned and cut into rings; 3 tbsp curry powder; 2 onions, sliced; 3 cloves garlic, 20 g ginger; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 300 g mixed vegetables (okra, cabbage, eggplant); 800 g cooked rice; Pickled vegetables and 4 papadums to serve

Origin: Malaysia · Penang

680kcal

per serving · 400 g

170kcal

per 100 g

36 gProtein9 g / 100 g

24 gFat6 g / 100 g

84 gCarbs21 g / 100 g

Nasi kandar is a Penang rice plate where steamed rice is topped with a choice of curries and sides — typically curry chicken, spicy squid, vegetables and pickles, with a crisp papadum on the side. The signature move is 'banjir', flooding the rice with several mixed curry gravies, giving a rich, layered, spicy plate.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: chicken curry, squid

Not veganbecause of: chicken curry, squid

Not keto21 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Crustaceans ⚠ Molluscs

What it is made of

ricechicken currysquidvegetablespickled vegetablespapadum

Recipe

4 servings75 min

Ingredients

600 g chicken pieces
300 g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
3 tbsp curry powder
2 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, 20 g ginger
2 tomatoes, chopped
300 g mixed vegetables (okra, cabbage, eggplant)
800 g cooked rice
Pickled vegetables and 4 papadums to serve

Method

Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in 2 tbsp oil until soft, add curry powder and tomatoes and cook to a paste.
Add the chicken and 400 ml water and simmer for 35–40 minutes until tender and the gravy thickens.
Stir-fry the squid separately with chili and a little of the curry gravy for 2–3 minutes, just until opaque.
Cook the vegetables with turmeric and salt until just tender.
Plate rice with chicken, squid and vegetables, spoon over gravy, and serve with pickles and papadum.

How to make it lighter

Ask for less 'banjir' — the mixed gravies carry much of the oil.
Fill half the plate with vegetables and pickles and keep rice to a fist-sized portion.
Skip or share the papadum, which is fried and adds calories with little volume.

History

The name comes from the shoulder pole ('kandar') that Indian-Muslim hawkers in Penang used to carry baskets of rice and curries through the streets. The dish grew out of this Tamil Muslim community and is now served in dedicated restaurants across Malaysia, many open around the clock.

Count it in one photo

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →