THENGAI SADAM | COCONUT RICE - Chitra's Food Book

Thengai sadam/Coconut rice is Sendhil’s favourite rice variety.I am not a big fan of this rice . So I make this only for my husband..Its very easy to make and very flavourful too..My Mom & MIL makes it very well.They make in a slightly different way.My MIL adds lot of soaked & roasted urad dal. But my mom adds roasted urad and channa dal without soaking them.I combine both their methods and it comes out very tasty.When u make this rice , ur house will be filled with nice aroma of coconut oil. The roasted smell of coconut , crunchy urad and channa dal, nice flavour of ginger and coconut oil are the highlights of this rice. .Over to the recipe,

INGREDIENTS

Cooked rice – 1/2 cup ( Boiled rice or raw rice would be fine)
Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
Salt – As needed

To temper

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 2 tbsp (soak for 30 minutes – optional)
Channa dal – 1 tbsp
Jeera / Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
Red chillies – 1 no
Green chillies – 1 no
Finely chopped Ginger – 1 – 2 tsp
Curry leaves – few

Ghee – 1 tsp
Cashews – 5 nos

METHOD

Cook the rice adding 1:2 rice n water till fluffy .Add a tsp of oil or ghee while u cook the rice to get it separate and fluffy.Spread the cooked rice in a plate..
In a kadai , heat coconut oil and temper all the items given under “ To temper” in the same order..Then add the grated coconut ,salt and mix well.. Roast everything in a low flame till u get a nice aroma of dals and coconut.But roast the coconut without changing its color.

Finally add the mixture to the cooked rice ,check for salt ..
Roast the cashews in a tsp of ghee and add to the rice.Mix well.

Serve !!

Note My MIL makes it in a slightly different method by soaking the urad dal for 1 hour and roast them till golden brown and proceed in the above mentioned way. I too follow this method sometime. But when i forget to soak the dal , i use the above method. Both of them tastes ‘very nice.Do try any based on ur liking and the preparation time .. Please don’t skip adding ginger . It adds a nice flavour to the rice and it helps for digestion as well..