Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice is a very popular South- Indian dish. I got this recipe from a friend. This recipe is very simple and requires only 8-10 minutes to make it (excluding the cooking time for rice). The addition of ghee for seasoning, the generous amount of coconut with a small hint of lemon juice makes it very tasty. Do try it yourself :-)

Ingredients:

• Rice (long grained)- 3/4 cup
• Grated Coconut, Fresh/ Frozen- 1/3 cup
• Ghee (clarified butter) or Oil- 2-3 tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Cashew nut- 4-5 (optional)
• Chana dal/ Split Chickpeas- 2 tsp
• Urad dal/ Split black gram- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves- Few
• Lemon juice- 1- 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt- To taste

Procedure:

Wash and cook the rice (I cooked in a microwave oven). Let it cool for some time. The rice grains should be well separated, once cooked (I added few drops of oil in the rice- water mixture before cooking).

Now prepare the seasoning. First heat the ghee in a kadai. Then add mustard seeds. Once it starts popping, add the cashews, chana dal and urad dal. Once it starts to turn slight brown, add the chopped green chilli (or dry red chilli) and curry leaves. Fry for a minute.

Then add the cooked rice, grated coconut, salt. Mix well. 

Continue heating for 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat. Finally add the lemon juice and give a good mix. Coconut Rice is ready!!

Serve it hot. Above measurement serves one.