Coconut Rice (South Indian Style)

Name: Coconut Rice (South Indian Style)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Asian, Indian
Ingredients: 1 cup basmati rice (or any regular non-sticky rice - or about 4 to 4.5 cups of cooked rice); 1.75 to 2 cups water; 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or any neutral oil); 1 teaspoon mustard seeds; ½ tablespoon urad dal ((split and husked black gram)); ½ tablespoon chana dal ((split and husked bengal gram)); 10 to 12 cashews (- chopped or 2 tablespoons); 1 or 2 dry red chilies (- broken and seeds removed); ½ to 1 teaspoon green chilies (- chopped or 1 to 2 green chillies); 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing) - optional, omit asafoetida to make the dish gluten-free); 10 to 12 curry leaves; 1.5 cups coconut (- tightly packed, fresh and finely grated); salt (as required)

Instructions

Prep:30minCook:10min

Coconut rice is a light, tasty, savory South Indian rice variant made with fresh grated coconut, lentils, cashews, herbs and spices. This nutty and mild rice based dish is also known as Thengai Sadam in Tamil language. The recipe is vegan and for a gluten-free version, easily skip adding asafetida.

Updated at: Sat, 11 Jul 2026 11:57:10 GMT