Nasi gandul

Nasi gandul, also written sega gandhul in Javanese, is a rice dish from Pati Regency in Central Java, Indonesia. A plate is built from steamed rice topped with slices of beef, sometimes with offal, and the whole is covered in a golden-brown, sweet, savoury and spicy soup whose base is coconut milk seasoned with garlic, shallot, chili pepper, candlenut, ginger, palm sugar and cinnamon. It is served on a sheet of banana leaf over a plate, finished with crisp fried shallots or fried garlic, and was traditionally eaten with a small spoon folded from banana leaf instead of an ordinary spoon. The word gandul means hanging in Javanese and refers to the way travelling vendors once carried the rice and the soup pot hanging from either end of a shoulder pole. Today most sellers keep a modest eatery rather than walking the streets. The dish resembles beef semur, tongseng and Javanese gulai without being identical to any of them.