Coconut Milk Rice (Thengai Paal Saadham)

Coconut milk rice is an easy, but healthy flavoured rice which is an ideal lunch box menu. With three kids at home, packing their lunch boxes is a herculean task for me. And this dish is a helping hand. It is easy to make and ready in no time. The only time consuming part is extracting the coconut milk. You can extract the coconut milk the previous night itself and store it in the refrigerator, though I prefer extracting it freshly in the morning. It is a very simple dish, but the coconut milk elevates it to the next level.

My friend Aiysha shared this recipe with me. There are many of her signature dishes, which I will share with all of you in my future posts. The original recipe given by Aiysha excludes vegetables. But I have added carrot and green peas to give it a healthy and colorful twist. Try it out and let me know how it turned out!

Prep time: 15 min|Cooking time:20 min
Course: main| Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients:

Basmati rice -1 cup

Onion-1(finely cut)

Green chilly- 3( slit length wise)

Carrot -1( cut into small pieces)

Fresh green peas- a handfull
Turmeric powder- a pinch

Coconut milk- 1 cup

Thin coconut milk- 3/4  cup

Salt- as needed

Ghee or oil- 1 ½ tblsp

Cinnamon- 2 pcs

Cloves-2

Bay leaves-2

Method:

1.       Soak basmati rice in water for 10 minutes. In the meantime cut onion and carrot and keep ready. Take thick and thin coconut milk from coconut and keep ready.

2.       Heat ghee in a cooker. Add cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves.

3.       Add onion and green chillies and fry for 3 to 4 minutes.

4.       Now add carrot and fresh green peas and stir well. Add a pinch of turmeric powder.

5.       Add the soaked and drained basmati rice. Fry well so that the ghee coats on the rice.

6.       Now add 1 cup thick coconut milk and 3/4 cup of thin coconut milk. Add salt and mix gently

7.       When the water starts boiling close the lid of the cooker. When you see the steam coming out put on the weight and immediately reduce the flame to low.

8.       Keep in low flame for exactly ten minutes and switch off.

9.       Wait for the pressure to release on its own and then remove the lid. Leave it for 5 minutes.

10.   Gently mix with a fork. Take care that you don’t mash the rice.

Notes:

·         Thick coconut milk is the first milk we get from grinding a coconut. Thin coconut milk is the second and third coconut milk.

·         I have used basmati rice. Normal cooking rice can also be used. But basmati rice or jeera samba rice gives a nice flavor to this dish.

·         Increase the quantity of green chilly according to your spice levels.

  Step by step pictures

heat oil or ghee in cooker.

add cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves.

add onion and green chillies and fry well.

add carrot and green peas and stir well.

add soaked and drained basmati rice.

fry well so that the ghee coats on the rice.

add thick and thin coconut milk.

close the lid. when steam starts 

coming out put on the weight.

cook on low flame for 10 minutes and switch off flame.

let the pressure release on its own.

gently mix with a fork.