Vary amin’anana

Ingredients

The rice

• 300 gwhite rice
• long grain or broken rice
• rinsed until the water runs clear
• about 2 litres water
• adjust as it cooks

The greens

• 400 gleafy greens
• anamamy, anantsonga or paracress
• chopped finely
• or 400 g spinach
• or watercress, or mustard greens
• or a mixture of what you have

The meat, if using

• 200 gbeef, cut small
• or 200 g pork
• or kitoza, dried beef strips
• or a handful of dried shrimp
• or nothing at all

The seasoning

• 1onion, chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• a large thumb of ginger
• grated finely
• 2 tablespoonsoil
• salt and black pepper
• 1tomato, chopped, optional

To serve

• sakay, Malagasy chilli paste
• kitoza, grilled dried beef
• or a fried egg
• ranovola, the toasted rice water

Directions

1. Boil it at least thirty minutes regardless. Wash them very thoroughly indeed. Fill a bowl with cold water and plunge them in. Swirl them hard so grit falls to the bottom.
2. Lift them out rather than pouring them off. Strip off any tough stems and discard them. Chop the washed leaves quite finely. The greens should disperse through the rice. Rinse it until the water runs clear. The dish should be slightly thickened. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt.
3. Cook it until soft and lightly golden. That takes about eight minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic and the grated ginger. Use plenty of ginger, which is characteristic.
4. Cook them for two minutes until fragrant. Add the meat now if you are using it. Cut it small so it cooks quickly. Brown it for a few minutes in the pot. Add the chopped tomato if you are using it. Cook it down until it collapses. Stir it through the seasoning briefly.
5. Use far more water than for plain rice. It should be loose enough to spoon and drink. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat. Simmer it uncovered for about twenty minutes.
6. Stir it from time to time as it cooks. The result should look like a loose porridge. Add more hot water if it thickens too far. Add them in the last five to eight minutes. They need cooking but not for very long. Stir them through the rice thoroughly. Add salt and plenty of black pepper.
7. Taste it carefully at this point. So it needs more than you would expect. Check the consistency one last time. It should pour thickly from a ladle. Add hot water if it has tightened. Serve it hot in deep bowls with spoons. Serve sakay on the side for heat. That means golden water in Malagasy. Stir constantly, since it catches easily.

Technique

• This dish is meant to be soupy. Use roughly six parts water to one of rice, which sounds like a great deal and is correct — it should pour thickly from a ladle, not sit dry and separate.
• Do not over-rinse the rice. Some surface starch is wanted here, unusually, because it thickens the liquid. Three or four changes of water is enough.
• Season it more than seems right. Rice absorbs a great deal of salt and under-seasoned vary amin’anana is very bland — that is the commonest fault with it.
• Chop the greens finely so they disperse through the rice rather than sitting in separate pieces. Some cooks pound them lightly to break them down further.
• Add the greens only in the last five to eight minutes. Overcooked they turn grey and lose their flavour; spinach needs three or four minutes at most.
• Cassava leaves, if you use them, contain cyanogenic compounds and must be pounded and boiled thoroughly — at least thirty minutes even for ready-prepared frozen leaf. Other greens carry no such concern.
• Use far more ginger than seems reasonable. It is central to Malagasy cooking and it is what makes this taste Malagasy rather than generically brothy.
• Vary amin’anana is unusual in Malagasy cooking because it combines the rice and the laoka in one pot, which makes it a genuine one-pot meal that stretches a small amount of meat a long way.
• Ranovola, golden water, is made by boiling water in the pot with the toasted rice crust still stuck to it. It is drunk at nearly every meal, costs nothing, and uses what would otherwise be scraped away.

Substitutions

• Spinach replaces the Malagasy greens and is the easiest substitute; watercress and mustard greens both work and a mixture is traditional.
• Broken rice replaces whole grain and gives a softer, more porridge-like result.
• Leftover cooked rice replaces raw rice and halves the cooking time; add more water and simmer until it breaks down.
• Dried shrimp or a piece of dried fish replace fresh meat and give savoury depth.
• The dish is entirely good with no meat at all, which is how it is often made.
• Any fresh chilli paste stands in for sakay.

Variations

• Vary sosoa is the plainer relative — rice cooked with extra water and no greens, eaten at dawn.
• A version with kitoza cooked into the pot rather than served on top is made in some households.
• Some cooks add a beaten egg stirred through at the end, which enriches it considerably.
• Ravitoto, pounded cassava leaves, is the other great Malagasy greens dish and is cooked with pork.
• A version with dried fish is common in coastal households.
• Related soupy rice and greens dishes are made across the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

History

Rice cooked together with chopped greens and often a little meat, a one-pot household dish born from rice being eaten three times a day.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vary amin’anana?

Vary amin’anana is a breakfast from Madagascar: soupy rice cooked with greens, often topped with kitoza. Rice cooked together with chopped greens and often a little meat, a one-pot household dish born from rice being eaten three times a day.

How long does Vary amin’anana take to make?

Vary amin’anana takes 20 minutes of preparation and 35 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Vary amin’anana?

Yes, within limits. Spinach replaces the Malagasy greens and is the easiest substitute; watercress and mustard greens both work and a mixture is traditional. Broken rice replaces whole grain and gives a softer, more porridge-like result. Leftover cooked rice replaces raw rice and halves the cooking time; add more water and simmer until it breaks down. Dried shrimp or a piece of dried fish replace fresh meat and give savoury depth. The dish is entirely good with no meat at all, which is how it is often made. Any fresh chilli paste stands in for sakay.

What is the most important thing to get right in Vary amin’anana?

Lift them out rather than pouring them off. Strip off any tough stems and discard them. Chop the washed leaves quite finely. The greens should disperse through the rice. Rinse it until the water runs clear. The dish should be slightly thickened. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt.