South Indian
Kerala Ghee Rice (Neychoru)
Kerala Ghee Rice (Neychoru) 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
- 1.5 cups basmati rice
- 4 tbsp ghee
- 2 onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 1 bay leaf
- 2.5 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Soak the basmati rice for 20 minutes, then drain well.
- Heat the ghee in a heavy pot and fry the cashews and raisins until golden, then scoop them out and set aside.
- In the same ghee, fry the onion slices until deep golden and caramelized, then remove half for garnish and leave the rest in the pot.
- Add the whole spices and let them sizzle, then add the drained rice and toast gently for 2 minutes before pouring in the water and salt.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and cook on low until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes, then fluff and top with the fried cashews, raisins, and reserved onions.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Kerala Ghee Rice (Neychoru), 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. Kerala Ghee Rice (Neychoru) carries tree nuts and dairy. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Dairy | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
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
- Hearty
- Protein
- Low
- Food groups it covers
- Grains, Dairy, and Nuts and seeds
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Kerala Ghee Rice (Neychoru) takes about 40 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. 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 basmati rice, ghee, and onion.
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.