June 20, 2008

Coconut rice


Nowadays I am trying out so much variety in rice itself, I am so happy I could find new favourites with almost every recipe variation of simple basmati rice. Being from Kerala, the land where coconut is added to anything and everything, I had to keep aloof from this tasty nut after coming to US. I had no means of grating or even breaking open the coconut, and ofcourse trips to the Indian store were almost unheard of (for us)! Blogging has brought me back to the wonderful Indian cuisine and is inspiring me to try almost everything that dont sound very complicated! These days trips to the Indian store is more frequent, but that too not at par with many others. Thankfully I had some frozen grated coconut that I got from the Indian store this week. Eventhough it wasnt nearly as tasty as fresh coconut, it did its purpose. We thoroughly enjoyed it. JM couldnt contain his hunger once he saw the rice, and lil LM wasnt far behind. I was surprised about the simplicity of the dish and if you have the cooked rice, its just a matter of minutes before you could enjoy a steaming bowl of coconut rice. Enjoy and have a great weekend!! BTW, this is my first time making or eating this! :-)


Recipe (Serves 2-3) :

Basmati rice (white) - 3 1/2 cups, cooked
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Urad dal - 1 tsp (optional)
Curry leaves - 4-5
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Dried red chilly - 1 medium
Cashewnuts - 6 whole unsalted
Chopped cilantro - a few sprigs
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt - 1/4 tsp or to taste
Groundnut or vegetable oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat oil in a skillet big enough to hold the rice.

Add the mustard seeds.

When they start to crackle, add asafoetida, urad dal, dried red chilly, curry leaves and cashewnuts.

Saute for a minute or two until the cashewnuts and urad dal are light brown.

Toss in the shredded/grated coconut and fry for a minute more.

Mix in the cooked rice and stir until mixed well and heated through.

Adjust the seasoning by adding salt as needed.

Sprinkle the chopped cilantro and mix well.

Serve hot with Indian curries.

Source: India with passion by Manju Malhi.

Tips:

  1. I used frozen grated coconut after thawing.
  2. We had it with curd, pickle and pappads.






Once again its award-time. Rachel of Tangerine's kitchen passed me two beautiful awards - The Yummy Blog award and the Rocking Girl Blogger award. At this time, I am dedicating and awarding these two awards to all of you - especially my fellow rocking bloggers, my lovely readers, all my friends and family who are encouraging me everyday to keep up the blog! Love ya all!! Again, wishing you all a great weekend!!



I am also sending this to EC's "Mixed Rice Varieties" event at Simple Indian Food. I am also sending this to Archana's "One Dish Meal event" at Archana's kitchen.



UPDATE: I am sending this to "Rice Mela" hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons.

45 comments:

Finla said...

I have never had coconut rice. I know i know bad mallu :-)
It looks really good.
ongrats with the awards.
Here i buy fresh coconut and then freeze them as we don't have indian shops here so don't get frozen coconut.
So it is the hard way for me, if i need the coconut

FH said...

Mmm..!! Great South Indian classic JZ, good job, great entry.I already have this at FH, I know it tastes so yummy!:))

FH said...

Oh, forgot to say! Enjoy all the awards. What would we do without bloggers and family encouragement? You are right!!:))

EC said...

I am loving all the entries that you are sending in for the event...thanks a lot

Anonymous said...

yummy rice ... coconut is one of my faves :) ur presentation and clicks are always amazing!
and thanks for reading my meme ... & wot I was doin in palaghat; its my native - born ther and spent my vacations there. avade nyaan valara enjoy chaidu - am a palghat tamilian :)

Sherin said...

Congrats for all the awards dear.... coco-rice looks sooo delicious... could eat it straight from the screen :-)

what is ur opinion about dessicated coconut?

Sherin said...

Hey forgot to tell u... I tried ur method for lemon rice... usually it comes out just ok.I used to add the lemon juice at the very end.. I tried ur method and it came out so good that not even one grain of rice was left

thanks a lot da!

vandana rajesh said...

Hi yummy coconut rice...have heard a lot about coconut rice but haven't ever tried it nor tasted it. Will definitely try it now ..looks very appetising.

Unknown said...

Wow great rice recipe,had it once at a friends place, just loved it, Thanks JZ for sharing this lovely rice dish.

notyet100 said...

ur recipes look alwayys yummy..congrats for the awards,..

Trupti said...

hello JZ, nice coconut rice and nice pictures .. I am fan of your photography.

Congrats on awards

Siri said...

the first pic is so colorful JZ. Lovely entry and Congratulations on ur well deserving awards!

Cheers,
Siri

Suganya said...

Hi JZ....
That was a wonderful presentation. Looks great. YUM!. Love coconut rice a lot with potato fry. I also do it the same way.

ranji said...

Wow JZ..such a delicious rice recipe and an appealing presentation....simply superrrrrrb!!!i have an award for u in my blog:)..come and collect it..congrats :)

KALVA said...

Wow looks great dear.. love coconut rice..

Unknown said...

This is my favorite rice..Nice entry

Green chilli said...

Hey JZ, thanks for posting this. I am a great fan of all Indian rice varieties, please try to post different types of Biriyanis also like Malabar Biriyani, fish Biriyani etc. I tried this today and it came out very well. Since it's not spicy my li'l ones enjoyed it too. Once again thanks.

Cham said...

Made cocnut rice too :) but seeing those bunch of event, i am combining all together in one dish :) Lovely classic south entry and congrats on your award

Sunshinemom said...

I made this today too:) Good presentation, and the pics tell me they tasted good like all your other recipes!

Mansi said...

Looks lovely J! I generally add a dash of lemon juice too:) I love coconut in any form:)D

Dori said...

Congratulations on your awards! The rice looks too good... I will definitely give it a try soon :)

ST said...

Lovely coconut rice.....Gr8 presentation......

Swati Raman Garg said...

wowyyy... coconut milk always welcome.. and such a neat looking dish that is...

ok i have a small something for you in my blog.. come over and check it :)

Chef Jeena said...

I can not believe that this is your first time making this meal. It looks sooooo delicious!

Sum Raj said...

woo.i remember the days my mom used to make it for me in school for the lunch..coconut rice where v get exact flavour of coconut..i luv the presentation...

Anonymous said...

u too have a nice weekend
abt u thinkin me to b frm the norht: tht may b due to the north-indian items i post - i m learning those from hubby whose been in the north ...

Illatharasi said...

Coconut rice is one of my favourite.... yours looks yummy:)

Congrats for the awards!!!

Laavanya said...

Coconut rice looks so good and I love the pictures and presentation.

Shubha Ravikoti said...

Hey hey... Lovely recipe... I love coconut rice...:) LOve urs.. yum yum yummmm!

Unknown said...

rice looks yummy..congrats on the awards

Bharti said...

That looks delicious!

Divya Kudua said...

Hey Jz,coconut rice looks yummy!!nice entry!!
btw,I was referring to coffee beanz in ekm;-)

Divya Kudua said...

and hey,congrats for all the awards!!you deserve it all!!!

Arundathi said...

mmm - love coconut rice - and sevai and most things coconut - except chocolate! :-)

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks Happycook..yeah i know cocnut affairs are headaches nowadays! Thankfully, i got frozen grated coconut!!

Thanks Asha, EC and Skribles!!

Thanks Sherin, I think dessicated coconut should work fine, just dont fry it before the addition of rice, in case it becomes more dry! I am not sure though, just guessing..and thanks for getting back to me abt the lemon rice! Great that you could try it out!

Thanks Vandana, pearlsofeast and notyet100!

Thanks Trupti, but yo do know that I have a resident photographer, (my hus) dont u? :-)

Thank you so much Siri, Sukanya and Ranji! Ranji, thanks a lot for passing me the awards! Hugggs!!

kalva, Divya Vikram and kutty, I appreciate you visiting!

Hehe Cham, I know what u r talking abt multiple birds with one stone ;-)

Thank you so much Sunshinemom, Mansi and Meeso!

I am thankful for ur comments Sireesha, Swati, Jeena, Suma and Skribles! Thank you soo much Swati, for passing me the award!

Thanks Illatharasi, Laavanya, Shubha and Sowmya, glad you all liked it!

Thanks for visiting Bharti, Divya and Arundathi..

Divya, I was also in Ern for abt 3 yrs. Are u still there?? :-)

Arundathi, I just loooooooooove chocolates!

Srikitchen said...

hi Jz
congrats for receiving two awards at a same time. so great u r... i prepare coconut rice in home in the same way u prepared. nice pics...

Anonymous said...

hey JZ,
Hearty congratulations for all the awards and this coconut rice is indeed a great south Indian way of having rice.I enjoyed reading it and am sure will do so in trying out and my family will feel same in eating it out

Trupti said...

Hey JZ check my blog for wonderful award.

Aditi..............:) said...

khajoor means Dates....I am so sorry to have skipped mentioning it!! Thanx for visiting my blog...first time at your blog....love it!!!

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks Srilekha, Alka, Trupti and Aditi! :-)

Devi Priya said...

Coconut rice looks delicious! Nice post.

Uma said...

delicious coconut rice. beautiful presentation.

Sig said...

Ohhh delicious looking rice JZ.... I am loving it!

@the_whisk_affair said...

Thanks Devipriya, Uma and Sig!

Kalai said...

We make this pretty much the same way. Definitely one of my all time faves!! :)