Easy South Indian Coconut Rice | Thengai Sadam

Coconut rice – incredibly easy to make, loaded with flavor and great meal for lunch box. Trust me you will be waiting for lunch time. Don’t miss this humble rice recipe.

Why Should You Try This Rice For Lunch Today?

Because coconut rice recipe, my friend is very easy to cook.

It uses minimal ingredients and works great with the left over rice too.

It’s an easy vegan + gluten free meal that you can cook in no time.

Also a very popular potluck recipe. Will be a big hit among the party crowd.

It pairs well with curry of your choice, yes literally any curry.

Recipe for nutty, light and delicious coconut rice varies from home to home. In some households coconut milk rice is made( fresh coconut milk is extracted from freshly grated coconut and the milk is used to cook the rice). It’s definitely flavor packed dish.

And the other way to cook coconut rice is the Indian way- buy using freshly grated coconut mixed into rice along with other spices and seasonings.

You can totally customize this recipe. You have the freedom to enhance coconut flavor to a great extent by both cooking rice in coconut milk (please note you’ll need thin coconut milk for the recipe and not thick cream, cream will split and won’t work for this recipe).

When cooking up lunch or dinner is very challenging, try this easy to make coconut rice. The dish comes together really quick and if you have leftover cooked rice, it’s a breeze to make this rice.

Having leftover rice gives you so many options for your lunch/dinner preparations. Think of fried rice, mushroom rice, pepper rice, just to name a few.

This South Indian version of coconut rice needs to have one most important thing – tempering (tadka). Tempering is cracking mustard seeds, few dals(or Indian lentils), curry leaves and dried red chilies in oil for the flavor and taste.

Promised you easy coconut rice recipe, and that’s what you get:

Add the tempered items, fresh grated coconut to cooked rice. Viola! You coconut rice is ready.

Cook’s Tip: Channa dal (Indian lentils) can be used 2 ways here in the dish. Soak the dal for few minutes and add to temper. You get nice soft cooked bite of dal in the rice.

Or use channa dal as it is in the temper and you get a crunchy bite of dal. If you ask me I like both and do either ways depending on my mood or what taste I prefer the particular day.

I have used both dried red chilies and green chilies here. Together the chilies gives amazing aroma and taste to the dish. Each type of chili has it’s own flavor and that brings out in the dish. Adjust the chilies based on your taste preference.

How to Make Coconut Rice

If you prefer soaking channa dal, soak for 15 minutes, drain and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan.

Crackle mustard seeds. Stir in cumin seeds, asafoetida and grated ginger.

Add the pre soaked and drain channa dal or as it is if you prefer crunchy bites. Along with channa dal add urad dal, cashews and stir cook until the lentils and cashews turn golden brown.

As per your taste preference stir in the number of chilies you prefer. I recommend both dried red and green chilies. Use just 1 dried red chilies whole or broken into 2 pieces. If you use too many red chilies the color of the rice will turn red.

Stir the curry leaves.

Add fresh grated coconut and stir for a minute. Then add cooked rice, salt to taste and gently mix it all together.

Serve with potato roast, egg roast or any curry of your choice.

Alternative Method for Coconut Rice 

The easiest version of coconut rice is to use leftover rice from a day before – the recipe that you have here. There is another version which is popular in my family and one of my favorite versions too, which is cooking rice in coconut milk. Light, earthy flavors, comfort food to satisfy your soul.

Cook rice in coconut milk along plus water mix along with other tempering.

A quick coconut milk rice recipe would be –

Heat ghee (clarified butter), add in cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and saute for 1 minutes.

Add ginger-garlic paste. Add in slit green chilies, cook until raw smell of paste is gone.

Add in veggies like chopped carrots, peas and saute for a minute.

Pour coconut milk mixed with water. For 2 cups basmati rice (long grain rice – soaked and rinsed) add 3 ½ cup liquid (1 ½ cup coconut milk + 2 cups water).

Cook until rice is completely done.

Rest cooked rice for few minutes and then fluff it with fork.

Delicious coconut milk rice is ready!

PAIR COCONUT RICE WITH-

• CHICKPEAS POTATO CURRY IN COCONUT MILK
• EGG ROAST

OTHER RICE RECIPES YOU MUST TRY-

• How To Make Steamed Rice
• Chipotle Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice
• Spicy Cajun Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
• One Pot Mushroom Rice
• Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
• How To Make Low Carb Cauliflower Rice
• Cauliflower Fried Rice

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