Coconut rice
Preparation Time
7 minutes
Cooking Time
33 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Lunch
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- Sona masoori rice
About This Recipe
Coconut rice, thengai sadam in Tamil, is what South Indian homes make when there is a fresh coconut on the counter: plain rice fluffed and cooled, then folded through a hot tempering that has met the grated coconut for a few seconds. The rice must be fully cool before the coconut goes in, or it steams and turns heavy; spreading it on a wide plate does the job in minutes.
The measure is one cup of grated coconut to one and a half cups of rice, and the order of the tempering is fixed: mustard seeds first, then the two dals until golden, then the chillies, curry leaves and hing, and the coconut only at the end, off the flame. That keeps the coconut white and fresh-tasting. The grain is sona masoori, cooked with two cups of water to a cup of rice; our guide to rice (chawal) covers the cooking of the grain itself. For a brown basmati coconut rice, use brown basmati, which takes about 30 to 40 minutes to cook, and add a splash of hot water if the pot dries out before the grains are tender.
The same cooled-rice trick carries the tamarind in puliyogare, and a spoon of roasted groundnuts scattered over the top is a common addition here. Keep the dish mild for children and add one more red chilli for a hotter plate.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Rice
- Sona masoori rice — 1 1/2 cups
- Water — 3 cups
- Salt — 1 1/2 tsp
Tempering
- Groundnut oil — 2 tbsp
- Mustard Seeds — 1 tsp
- White Urad Dal — 1 tsp
- Chana Dal — 1 tsp
- Dried red chillies, broken — 2 pieces
- Green chillies, slit — 2 pieces
- Curry leaves (fresh, or a few dried) — 1 sprig
- Hing (asafoetida) powder — 1/4 tsp
To mix
- Fresh coconut, grated — 1 cup
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Serving Suggestions
Serve at room temperature with potato curry, a lime or mango pickle, papad or curd; packed once it is fully cool, the rice travels well in a tiffin box. A banana leaf thali, a spoon of ghee on top and a bowl of rasam make it a full meal. The curd rice is the cooler companion for the same leaf.
Tips for Cooking Coconut rice
Cool the rice completely before mixing, and fluff it with a fork rather than a ladle so the grains stay separate. Fry the dals on low heat until they turn golden, not brown, or they go hard in the rice. The coconut goes in off the flame, gets a quick fold and is ready; heat makes it release oil and taste cooked.
Chef’s Note
Grate the coconut with its brown skin off, and keep leftover rice in the fridge for up to two days, folded again with a squeeze of lime. A serving comes to about 334 kcal, 6.0 g of protein and 2.1 g of fibre; the grated coconut is not in these numbers.
Per serving (approx.): 334 kcal, protein 6 g, carbs 59 g, fat 7.9 g, fibre 2.1 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jun 22, 2026
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