Coconut Rice with Fenugreek Seeds

OK, I am not a big fan of cooking rice in different varieties. The whole point of adding more oil in a thing already dense in Calories, always pushes me off. I know this might be sounding weird to many, especially those who are used to having Rice daily for lunch or dinner. I don’t cook rice every day, rather just 2-3 times a week. Also, I prefer plain boiled rice ( that too, without starch) to any kind of fried or Masala rice. Foremost reason being  I really like the taste of plain boiled rice in itself. No kidding, I can just gulp a plate full of idlis without any Chutney or Sambhar alongside. But it’s just the spiced rice, I am not very attracted to.

Another reason for my lack of enthusiasm towards fried rice is that we usually have rice for dinner which should ideally be the lightest meal of the day. Adding oil and spices to the rice somehow makes me feel guilty about inviting unnecessary calories. C’mon don’t laugh, we all have our own Guilt conscious  for individual things.. And although my dinner is not the ideal light one, at least I keep my conscious content by avoiding this little peck. Now, why am I going on and on about fried rice too much today. Well, that’s because I am about to post a recipe of one such version of Rice today.

I tried this when Kalyani asked us to try the combo of Coconut-Fenugreek seeds for this month’s Magic mingle. As always Priya, Vaishali and Gauri had started posting their recipes and I was still scratching my brain and was going nowhere with the ideas. I am very bad at this at first , and then to use coconut in my cooking.. was a bit of challenge. I don’t like adding coconut to my gravies and curries. I have tried that and I don’t really like the taste that much. Finally, after 2 weeks of pointless brainstorming, I decided to try Thai Coconut rice. I once had them in a Thai restaurant and ever since I loved the taste.

Now, if I say how amazed I was with the result, it would sound a cliché. But I really am amazed. We had the Rice with Red Thai Curry, the recipe of which I will post very soon. It was a lovely Sunday Lunch which we enjoyed a lot. I used Coconut milk and grated coconut both for the recipe, and a little amount of Ghee. Since you know by now, that I don’t experiment much when it comes to rice, I cant compare the taste with any other variety. But this one, was really really good and I am going to try that for sure. May be this is my start with the new varities in Rice , hold on.. many more recipes to come now :)

What you need ?

• 1 cup Rice, soaked for 30 min
• 1 tbsp Methi Seeds 
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp Ghee 
• 1 tbsp Kasuri Methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• Salt to taste 
• 1/2  cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

How to make ?

• Drain the soaked rice and keep aside. 
• Heat ghee in a pan, throw in Cumin seeds and let them crackle. Add Methi seeds and fry for a minute. 
• Add Kasuri Methi and fry for just 10 seconds. Add grated coconut and roast on low flame for another minute or so, till it gets a bit brown.
• Now add Rice and roast it on low flame for like a minute or so. Dont overdo it else the rice might burn out. 

• Now add water and bring to a boil. When it starts boiling, turn the flame to low and add salt and coconut milk. 
• Cook rice covered for like  8-10 minutes on low flame untill it absorbs whole of the coconut milk. If you feel its still moist, let it be uncovered for a while and the excess water will evaporate
• Garnish with Cilantro leaves and black pepper. 

My Notes:

• Quantity of water depends on the quality of rice used. You may increase or decrease the water to a quarter till you get the perfect result. 
• You may also add fried onion on top for garnish, that should really bring out the best of flavours.
• I love adding Garlic to rice, but I have skipped in this recipe. Feel free to add garlic, after frying methi seeds and the rest will follow as above.

Linking it to events: -
Lets cook with coconut by Simply food