This vegan South-Indian style coconut rice recipe comes together in less than 20 minutes and makes the perfect meal for those busy days. It's also great to pack in your lunchbox.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Total time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons urad dal (soaked for 15 minutes)
- 2 teaspoons chana dal (soaked for 15 minutes)
- 1 & ½ tablespoons oil (I used avocado oil)
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- pinch hing (optional, also known as asafetida)
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1-2 green chili (finely chopped, adjust to taste)
- 15 cashews (whole, unroasted)
- 6-7 curry leaves
- ¾ cup freshly grated coconut
- 3-4 cups cooked rice (I used basmati rice)
- salt (to taste)
Method
- Soak 2 teaspoons each of urad and chana dal for 15 minutes in enough water in a small bowl. Then drain the water and set the dal aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds and let them crackle. Then add pinch of hing (optional) and stir.
- Then add 1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 1 to 2 chopped green chilies. Cook until the ginger starts changing color. Add 15 whole raw cashews, the soaked & drained chana and urad dal and 6 to 7 curry leaves. Cook until the cashews and the dals starts turning light golden brown in a color. This takes around 1 minute.
- Now, add ¾ cup of freshly shredded coconut (or use frozen coconut) and stir well. Cook for 1 minute.
- Toss in 3 to 4 cups of cooked rice and mix well very until everything is well combined and the rice is heated through. Serve coconut rice with pickle and enjoy.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.