Coconut rice/Thengai Sadham

Thengai sadham is a smple, easy, and flavorful rice made with fresh coconut tempering, and is made for many festivals. It is made for Kanu Pongal, Aadi peruku, 'Thai' and 'Aadi' velli (Friday), Chitra Pournami, Varalakshmi Vratam, and Navratri. 

This is vegan, and also saatvik - no onioin no garlic food. It is also a simple neivedhyam for weekly or daily pooja at home. Plus, this simple and delicious rice is great for lunch box too! This can be made in under 30 minutes.

Tempering in coconut oil gives the extra flavor. Red chilies, green chilies, mustard, urad dhal, peanuts, cashews, curry leaf, fresh coconut, curry leaves with hing are tempered in coconut oil and added to the cooked rice. The aroma that fills the home when tempering is divine. While the rice is cooking, the rest can be made ready and mixed together for a quick meal. 

Frozen grated coconut could also be used. Just thaw required amount and use as directed in the recipe. All variety rice will have chana dhal too in the tempering. I don't use chana dhal everyday or often, as we have a member in our family allergic to chana dhal. 

We love this coconut rice with harvest vegetable curry (we call as Kanu Kootu). I make sure when I make Coconut rice, I make kanu kootu or vice versa. They both pair very well. 

I make this very often for neivedhyams. Sometimes, our brunch thali is chitrannam thali with an array of variety mixed rice. I make these as neivedhyam for Lalitha Sahasranama Parayanam. Also, I make this thali especially during Navratri times, when I invite friends and families for lunch or dinner. These variety rice are crowd pleaser and can be easily made in larger quantities. 

This is my post for Srivalli's Blogging Marathon 120 - Festival Food. 

Check here for my recipes for Cranberry Rice, Narthangai Sadham / Citron Rice, Instant Curry Leaf Rice, Kalkandu Sadam, Raw Mango Poha, and Bagalabath that are chitrannams and you can easily make a feast with these. 

Ingredients

Easily serves 4 hungry people

Under 30 min

Sona Masoori rice - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Salt - 3/4 tsp

Coconut - 3/4 cup, grated, fresh or frozen

For Tempering

Coconut oil - 1/4 cup

Cashews - 2 tbsp

Peanuts - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 3/4 tsp

Split urad dhal - 3/4 tsp 

Chana dal - 3/4 tsp (I didn't use)

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Red chilies - 3, torn

Green chili - 1 or 2, chopped

Method

Wash the rice, cook the rice with 2 cups of water. Adjust the water quantity according to the rice variety used.  Spread it on a bigger bowl with a tbsp of coconut oil and let it cool.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the red chilies and mustard seeds. When it sputters add the split urad dhal followed by peanuts, and cashews. Fry for a minute till they turn to a golden color. Add the curry leaves, green chilies, and asafoetida. Add the grated coconut . Sauté for 2-3 minutes. 

Add it to the rice. Add salt. Mix thoroughly.

Serve.