Coconut Milk Rice | Kobbari Annam | Kobbari Pala Annam

'Kobbari Annam' is a popular Andhra recipe which is prepared on special occasions and it is usually served with spicy Aloo Kurma and it is the best combination I would say. There are two ways to prepare the coconut rice - the first one is - Coconut rice prepared using fresh grated coconut mixed with rice and tempering,which is usually prepared for festivals and the second version is Coconut rice prepared with coconut milk and is prepared like a mild pulao. I have already posted the first version - Coconut Rice using grated coconut and today I am posting the second version - Coconut Milk Rice, or rather we can call it Coconut Milk Pulao.

TH is a big fan of his grand mother's coconut rice , she always used to prepare it by extracting the fresh coconut milk and needless to say that the taste of Coconut rice will be really good as it is prepared from freshly pressed coconut milk. But I always end up using a packet one for obvious reasons.The addition of spices and coconut milk makes this rice mild and flavorful, it pairs beautifully with spicy kurmas and gravies.One can add various vegetables and increase the quantity of green chillies and spices to make spicy Coconut Vegetable Pulao which can be served with a simple raita.

Check out few various mild pulao recipes in my blog which pairs nicely with spicy gravies and kurmas.

• Bagara Rice | Hyderabadi Bagara Chawal
• Saffron Rice | Saffron Pulao 
• Coconut Milk Vegetable Pulav
• Jeera Rice-Traditional Way
• Paneer Pulao
• Peas Pulav

Coconut Milk Rice | Kobbari Pala Annam Recipe:

Serves 2

Prep time:10 mins | Cooking time:30 mins | Total time:40 mins

Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Rice | Pulav

Ingredients:

1 heaped cup Basmati Rice
1 cup Coconut Milk,fresh or packet one

1 big Onion, finely sliced
2 Green Chillies,slit

2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

3/4" Cinnamon

3-4 Cloves

2-3 Green Cardamom

1-2 Bay leaves

1 tsp Caraway seeds(ShahiJeera/Shajeera)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp Ghee

Method:

• Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 10 mins.Do not wash more than twice as it looses its fragrance.
• Heat oil and ghee in a thick kadai/pan(or cooker) and add Caraway seeds and let them crackle.
• Add cloves,green cardamom,cinnamon and bay leaves and fry them for a minute. Slighly open the cardamom pods before adding so that they do not splutter.

• Add  thinly sliced onions,slit green chillies and fry until they become translucent and then add ginger-garlic paste and fry well.
• Add drained basmati rice and fry well for a couple of minutes until its dry,do this step carefully as the rice might get broken.

• I have used Rice cooker so I have transferred the rice mixture at this point and added 1 cup of thick coconut milk and 1 cup of water and added enough salt to it and cooked it until done.If you are preparing it in cooker,pressure cook for 1 whistle and simmer it for 5-7 mins or you can pressure cook for 2 whistles on medium flame.Let it sit for 10 mins undisturbed.

• Gently fluff it up using a fork.

Serve it hot with Aloo Kurma | Mixed Vegetable Kurma | Bagara Baingan | Mirchi ka Salan or any spicy gravy and raitha,papad.

Notes:

1. This is a mild spiced rice recipe which pairs well with any spicy curry.
2. You can add vegetables like carrots,peas,potatoes,beans,capsicum and make vegetable pulao following the same recipe.
3. The addition of ghee enhances the flavor of rice and pulaos,hence do not skip it.
4. This tastes best when prepared with freshly prepared coconut milk at home.To prepare coconut milk at home, add luke warm water to the grated fresh coconut and grind it to a smooth puree and squeeze the mixture in between your hands and passing the liquid through a strainer.This is thick coconut milk known as first press.Now again add some lukewarm water to the squeezed pulp and grind again and squeeze and strain the milk. This is thin coconut milk known as second press. You can mix both the thick and thin versions to get the required quantity of cocnut milk according to the recipe.

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