Coconut rice / thenga sadam

My dad cannot have anything spicy. This rice is the pefect antidote to my mom's favorite tamarind rice / puliyogarai !

Thus my mom , Mrs. Radha Parameswaran, makes the perfect coconut rice.

Notes:
Be careful with the rice. It must not be over cooked. The cooked rice grains must be must be 'udir-udira' or separate.
I have used 1 cup of loosely packed coconut in this recipe. Feel free to reduce it to 3/4 cup. But please do not use 1/2 cup, or less than 1/2 a cup. Once the coconut fries, it shrinks and further reduces in quantity.
I have used coconut oil for obvious reasons. But vegetable oil is also alright. Do not use any other oil like til, mustard or groundnut as they have strong smells, which will not compliment the dish.

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice - 2 cups*

Mustard - 1 tsp

Urad dal / Chana dal- 1 tsp
Red chilli - 4, broken

Curry leaf - 2 sprigs

Coconut - 1 cup (loosely packed)

Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Salt

Sugar - 1 tsp

Ground nut or cashewnut - 2 tbsp

Method:
Heat the coconut oil, fry the groundnut / cashewnut until golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove it from the oil. Keep aside for garnish.

Into the rest of the oil, add the mustard. Once the mustard splutters, add the urad / channa dal and red chilli.

When the dal turns red, add the curry leaf.

Almost immediately add the coconut and reduce flame.

Fry till the coconut becomes golden.

Turn off flame and add the sugar.

Keep stirring for 1 minute.

Then add the rice, salt and mix well.

Garnish with the ground nuts / cashewnuts.