South Indian
Coconut Rice
Coconut Rice is South Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked rice, cooled
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 1 tbsp chana dal
- 1 tbsp urad dal
- 2 tbsp peanuts
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 green chilies
- 2 dried red chilies
- 15 curry leaves
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Heat the oil in a wide pan and let the mustard seeds pop, then fry the chana dal, urad dal, and peanuts until golden.
- Add the green chilies, dried red chilies, and curry leaves and let them sizzle for a few seconds.
- Stir in the grated coconut and cook gently for 2 minutes, just until it turns lightly fragrant, without letting it brown.
- Add the cooled rice and salt and toss gently over low heat until everything is evenly combined and warmed through.
- Serve the coconut rice warm or at room temperature.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Coconut Rice, read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Coconut Rice carries peanuts and coconut. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Low
- Food groups it covers
- Grains and Nuts and seeds
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Coconut Rice takes about 25 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on rice, coconut, and peanut.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from South India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.