Thengai paal sadam is a south Indian flavored rice very similar to pulao, but this dish is very special because the rice is cooked in coconut milk.
🍚 Thengai Paal Sadam 🥥
Lately I have been experimenting with some new rice recipes, mostly because I miss long-grain brown rice, and all we have these days is Cambodian short grain sticky rice with lots of broken bits. It is almost impossible to keep this rice fluffy, so I highly recommend you make this with basmati or any kind of long grain rice you have available. I used to make this south Indian style coconut milk rice many years ago, and I kind of forgot about it because sometimes that happens when you're always making cooking up new things. This rice is lovely by itself and also a nice partner to a spicy curry, and I'm glad I rediscovered it recently.
🌶️ Ingredients 🥥
- Rice | 1x cup
- Turmeric Powder - pinch
- Salt - to taste
- Coconut Milk - 2x cups
Seasoning
- Cinnamon | 1x small piece
- Bay Leaf | 1x large leaf
- Cardamom | 1x Pod
- Cumin Seeds | 1x teaspoon
- Garlic | 1 x clove
- Ginger | 1x thumb-sized piece
- Green Chilies | 2x
- Fresh Mint Leaves | 1x handful
- Sawtooth Coriander | 15x leaves
STEP 1
Wash the rice and soak it for 15 minutes, then drain the water and reserve the rice. Slice the mint and coriander and set aside.
STEP 2
Mince the garlic and ginger and slice the green chilies, then combine and set aside.
STEP 3
Heat the oil in a small pressure cooker and add the cinnamon stick, cardamom, cumin seeds, and bay leaf. Fry until fragrant, then add the ginger, garlic, and green chilies, and fry a few more minutes on low heat. Lastly, add the chopped mint leaves and coriander and stir to wilt and coat the greens.
STEP 4
Now add the rice, turmeric powder, and salt, and gently saute/stir a few minutes until the rice is coated with the spice mix. Add the coconut milk and stir to mix, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. When the coconut milk comes to a boil, reduce heat and place the lid on the pot.
STEP 5
I didn't place the pressure cooker weight because the local rice here is soft and delicate that even waiting for the whistle overcooks the rice. For this batch I placed a plastic bottle upside down on the pot, just a safety measure so that any stray neighbor kids wandering in the house aren't immediately tempted to play with the steam. When the rice is nearly cooked, turn the heat off and let the rice rest 5 minutes before fluffing and serving.
Enjoy Your Coconut Milk Rice 🍚
If you make this delicious rice at home, you can eat immediately instead of letting it go cold as you try to take the perfect thumbnail shot. I lost my patience not long after taking a couple shots, then found myself snacking on my bowl while wandering around the yard.
If I hadn't made this rice for a recipe post, I would've also prepared a tomato-based curry to enjoy with this. It is quite nice by itself though, and on this day we simply fried some tofu to enjoy with this milky fragrant rice.
The wife approved this dish 100% and gave her seal of approval. I think anytime she doesn't have to cook she'll gladly play along and pretend anything that I made was delicious. On this day though however, I know the coconut rice is the bee's knees, so everybody is a winner.
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