Vegan Coconut Rice Recipe

No Tamil Feast is complete without Puliyodarai and Coconut Rice! Here's a Coconut Rice Recipe without a single drop of oil!

Whole Food Plant Based Coconut Rice Recipe

Course: Course 3: Grain Dish for Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Tamil Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Brown Rice soaked
1/4 cup Coconut grated
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Urad Dal \ Split Black Gram
3 tsp Peanuts roasted
1 tbsp Curry Leaves
1/2 Green Chili chopped
4 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak 1 cup brown rice for 30 minutes. Cook it with 2 cups water until it is soft but not over cooked. Spread it out on a large plate so it doesn't become sticky. Let it cool fully.
2. Dry roast groundnuts over low flame until just done. Ensure that it does not darken. Remove on to a plate and roast urad dal the same way. Once it is light brown, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chili and switch off the stove as soon as it starts sputtering. Make sure you do not over-roast any of these. See Nutrition Science Highlights below for details.
3. Once done, add the above seasoning to cooked rice, with grated coconut and miso paste. Mix well, taking care not to mash the rice. Serve fresh!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Coconut Rice Recipe

1. Coconut Rice is best served with vadai!

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Coconut Rice Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why whole grains? Whole grains are healthier than refined grains such as white rice, refined flours, maida, rava, etc., as the bran layer is intact, with all its vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Whole grains have been found to be protective against a whole range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and lifestyle-related cancers.
3. Why cool grains? When cooked grains are allowed to cool on the counter or in the fridge, its starch crystallises to form resistant starch. This can be eaten by our good gut bacteria and also reduces the glycemic index (the rate at which glucose is absorbed), making the whole grain even healthier. For the same reason, parboiled whole grains can be used as well.
4. What's wrong with roasting? The brown color we get on roasting whole grains, tubers, legumes, or nuts is due to the formation of carcinogenic AGE compounds. We can reduce the formation of these compounds by roasting peanuts mildly, on a low flame.
5. Why not tadka? Tadka, thaaLippu, oggaraNe. Tempering spices in oil is quintessential to Indian cuisine. This practice may have started as a compromise when whole nuts were unavailable, and indeed, is more common in inland, drier areas where nuts do not grow easily, all year round. You can enjoy the taste and fragrance, though, by just dry roasting the spices you require, without the oil, or even better, mixing spice powders directly into your dish!