South Indian coconut rice. Coconut rice is an easy and flavorful rice dish made with fresh grated coconut, tempering spices, curry leaves and rice. It is one of the most basic South Indian foods made for a meal during festivals and occasions. This simple yet delicious coconut rice is flavorful and easy to make.
You could choose to omit the dry red chilli in the tempering if making for children.
While it can be eaten on its own, traditionally coconut rice is part of a larger meal and paired with curries.
Think of fried rice, mushroom rice, pepper rice, just to name a few.
You can have South Indian coconut rice using 14 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you cook it.
Ingredients of South Indian coconut rice
- You need 2 cups of cooked rice or 1 cup raw rice (any type of rice).
- It's 3/4-1 cup of freshly grated coconut (you can use frozen too, but thaw completely before using).
- You need 3 tbsp of coconut oil (or any other odorless oil).
- Prepare 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds.
- It's 1/2 tsp of jeera/cumin seeds.
- You need 1/2 tbsp of urad dal/split black gram lentils.
- You need 1 tbsp of chana dal/split Bengal gram dal.
- It's 2-3 of dry red chilies, roughly cut.
- It's 1 of small pinch of hing/asafetida powder.
- It's Few of Curry leaves.
- You need of Optional:.
- It's Few of peanuts (with our without skin)/split cashew/whole almonds etc.
- It's FOR of GARNISH:.
- You need As required of Freshly chopped coriander leaves/cilantro.
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. This south indian coconut rice has a very simple tempering of curry leaves, cashews, mustard seeds and lentils. These ingredients are most commonly used in a lot of recipes from south India and so this is no different.
South Indian coconut rice instructions
- If using raw rice, wash in plenty of water until water runs clear and cook (either in a pressure cooker or stovetop) until just cooked and each grain is separate. Drain and cool completely. If using already cooked rice, make sure each grain is whole and separate..
- TO MAKE COCONUT RICE: Heat oil in a deep sauce pan and once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. As soon as the seeds start to crackle and pop, add jeera and hing powder and sauté on low heat for a few seconds. Now add the lentils (urad and chana dal) and fry again until they turn light golden. Stir in dry red chilies and peanut/cashew nuts if using and fry again for a few seconds..
- At this stage, stir in grated coconut and fry or sauté on medium heat, stirring continuously until the coconut is slightly fried and starts to turn light brown. Try not to fry it too much; we need the flavor and aroma of fresh coconut! Sprinkle rice and salt to taste and mix well, cooking on medium heat, stirring often until heated through. Remove from heat and serve hot or at room temperature with yogurt, raita, papad, potato chips etc!.
- Notes Adjust the amount of spices and coconut according to personal taste. If consuming immediately or within a day, it is safe to roast the coconut just a bit, maintaining it's freshness and flavor. But to make it last longer, roast coconut until heated through and lightly browned. Adding peanuts/cashew nuts/almonds etc is optional. Make sure you use cold or room temperature rice with each grain separate and whole..
Once you have pre-cooked rice read to go, it's just a matter of few minutes to put it all together. This South Indian Coconut Rice Recipe is a mildly spiced and light rice dish cooked with fresh coconut. A perfect light recipe that can be served along with kurma, sambar or a thin South Indian curry. Here is how to make it. In south India, coconut rice is a favorite and is made during festivals like Pongal and Navratri.
