Narali Bhat

Narali Bhat

नारळी भात

Cooked, tested & tasted by: Sharada Marathe

Photo credit: Sharada Marathe

Cuisine: Sweet

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serving size: 4 people

Ingredients:

For cooking rice 

• 1 vati basmati rice

• 2 .75 vati water

For tempering 

• 2 lavag ( clove)

• 1 piece of dalchini (cinnamon)

•  4 tsp ghee (clarified butter)

• 1 vati plus 1 tbsp sugar

•  1/2 vati tightly packed grated coconut

•  1tbsp orange juice or orange zest or lemon juice

• 1 medium sized grated carrot

•  4 kismis ( Golden raisins)

•  4 Elaichi's (Cardamom) powder 

•  6 Slivered almonds

Procedure:

1.  Soak Basmati rice in enough water for 30-minutes.

2.  Grate half of a  medium sized coconut. You should be able to get 1/ 2 cup tightly packed grated coconut.

3.  Grate 1 medium sized carrot.

4.  Heat ghee in a pan.

5.  When the ghee is hot enough, add cloves and cinnamon.

6.  Fry  for a minute till fragrant.

7.  Add the soaked rice to it.

8.  Saute the rice in ghee for 2 minutes. Add the grated carrot and saute it for a minute.

9.  Next add the 1/ 2 cup grated coconut to the rice.

10.  Saute it for 3 to 4 minutes. 

11.  Add boiling water and bring the whole mixture to boil.

12.  Cover and cook the mixture on low heat till the rice texture softens in 7 - 8 minutes.

13.  Add sugar  and orange juice to it .

14.  Add the dry fruits and cardamom powder.

15.  Stir the mixture carefully retaining rice grain intact.

16. Cover and  let it cook on a low heat for 7 minutes till  each grain is separate.

Tips: 

• For 1 cup rice add 1 cup sugar.

• 1 medium size carrot could be added to the rice for better colour. Once the rice is sauted for 2 minutes in the spice, the carrot could be added at this point.

• Orange or lemon will impart a slight tangy taste to the otherwise sweet rice.

• After adding the dry fruits and cardamom powder, place a tava on the gas stove. Place the rice pan on top of the tava and then cook. This is an added precaution to prevent the cooked rice from sticking to the pan.

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