Coconut Rice

This recipe is prepared at home usually the day after the festival as we break the coconut on the festival day which is handy for the following day. I follow the quick tip to extract the coconut from the shell.  keep the coconut in the freezer for at least 8 to 10 hours or until you use it. I know, many times I have noticed the fungus developing inside the kernel even if we keep it in fridge or sun dry them. I feel this is the best practice to store the coconut and keep it fresh. To use it, remove from the freezer an hour before and place it in  the water. Remove the shell and chop the coconut into thin slices and slightly pulse them in mixer or food processor with out adding any water. Make sure it should resemble the grated coconut rather than paste.

Coconut rice with brinjal curry / Guthi vankaya koora

Ingredients:
Rice – 2 cups
Fresh coconut grated – 1 cup
Green chilli – 4 - 5
Onion – 1 chopped into thin slices
Curry leaves
Coriander
Mustard + Cumin – 1 tsp
Chana daal – 1 tsp
Urad daal – 1 tsp
Cashews - 10
Dry chilli - 2
Oil – 4 tbsp
Salt
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Method:

Wash and soak rice in 3 ½ cups of water for 30 minutes. Cook the rice and spread in a wide plate.
Heat a pan with oil. Add the seasoning ingredients like Urad daal, Chana daal, Dry chilli, Mustard, cumin cashews and curry leaves. Add chopped onion and chilli and fry them until they become transparent. Add coconut along with salt and fry for few minutes (about 5-6) until the moisture evaporates from coconut. Finally sprinkle some chopped coriander and lemon juice. Stir once, cover the lid and turn off the heat. Add this mixture to the rice and mix every thing gently.