South Indian Coconut Rice Recipe (Thengai Sadam)

Coconut Rice is a bowl of easy and flavourful rice made with freshly grated coconut and with few spices.

It is one of the most basic South Indian recipes which we make for festivals and special occasions. South Indian Coconut Rice Recipe (Thengai Sadam) is a popular South Indian variety of rice made by tempering grated coconut with spices and then mixing them with cooked rice.

Coconut Rice or Thengai Sadam is easy to make and at the same time flavorful and delicious.

How To Make South Indian Coconut Rice Recipe (Thengai Sadam) WithStep By Step Instructions

Ingredients

• Uncooked Rice (1 cup)
• Coconut Grated (1 to 1/2 cup), fresh or frozen
• Salt (1/2 tsp), or to taste
• Green Chilies ( 1 to 2 chilies), chopped
• Dried Red Chili (1 piece), broken into 2 pieces
• Ghee Or Cooking oil (2 tbsp)
• Mustard Seeds (1/2 tsp)
• Asafoetida ( a pinch), hing
• Cumin Seeds (1/2 tsp)
• Chana Dal (1 tbsp)
• Urad Dal (1/2 tbsp)
• Ginger (1 tsp)
• Curry leaves ( 3 to 5 leaves)
• Cashew Nuts (12 to 15)

Instructions

1. Firstly, start the cooking take one cup of rice rinse with water, and soak it for some time.
2. I usually wash rice thrice and then soak it for 1 hour before cooking.
3. If you using basmati rice then soak the rice for at least 20 to 30 minutes before starting the cooking procedure.
4. Cook Rice in a Pot
5.  Drain the rice water and bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil.
6. Add the drained rice and cook covered on a flame until fully cooked.
7. Rice must be fully cooked but firm and grainy.
8. Once fully cooked, fluff it up with a fork and cool completely.
9. Making Coconut Rice
10. Pour 2 tbsp of ghee or oil into the pan and heat it
11. Fry the cashew nuts until golden. Remove the plate and set it aside
12. In the same pan add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal, urad dal, and red chili, saute them, and fry until the dals turn golden and aromatic
13. Then add ginger, slit green chili, and curry leaves and saute for 30 to 50 seconds until the curry leaves turn crisp. Now add Hing
14. Quickly pour 2 to 3 tbsp of water into the pan. This will soften the dals and bring out the flavors of the ginger and curry leaves. Cook until all of the water evaporated
15. Then add fresh coconut and sprinkle salt on it. Then add rice and off the heat. If you using frozen coconut then saute the coconut a bit until a becomes hot and then add the rice.
16. Mix it well and taste it. Add more salt if you need
17. Serve coconut rice with Simple curry or plain yogurt