About coriander rice:
Coriander rice or cilantro rice is a popular dish in Indian cuisine. It has a unique flavor and taste. This recipe is the perfect way to make it at home. This rice is not only special in Indian cuisine. In Thai and Mexican cuisine also they prepare coriander rice with some variations suitable to their cuisine.
About coriander leaves:
Coriander is a plant that belongs to the family of parsley, celery and carrot. It has a distinctive flavor and fragrance. The leaves of coriander are used for cooking in many parts of the world.
Coriander is an important ingredient in several cuisines across the world. It is a key ingredient in curries, chutneys and soups. The seeds are also used as a spice in some dishes such as Mexican dishes like tacos or guacamole.
It is an herb that has been grown for centuries and its culinary use can be traced back to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Tips to make perfect coriander rice recipe:
- Select good quality rice to make this rice recipe. You can use a fine variety of ponni rice,karnataka ponni rice, basmati rice or jeeraga samba rice.
- Ratio of rice and water is very important to get fine grains of rice. If the rice becomes mashed, you cannot enjoy the kothamalli sadam. Perfect ratio is 1:2 for one part of rice, 2 parts of water should be added.
- Sauteeing the coriander leaves until the raw flavor goes gives a nice flavor to the rice.
- To get the fluffy rice consistency, cool the white rice for sometime by mixing with sesame oil.
lunch box recipes south indian style:
- Garlic rice
- Corn pulao
- Nellikai sadam
- Beetroot rice
- Cabbage rice
- Pudina rice
- Coconut rice
- Lemon rice
Ingredients For coriander rice:
Rice: Use rice varieties like normal ponni rice or basmati rice or seeraga samba rice.
Coriander leaves: use fresh bunch of leaves.
Coconut: some dont like adding coconut but i recommend adding it as it adds taste to the rice.
Tamarind : Addition of tamarind gives mild tanginess to the rice.
For list of ingredients and quantity check above ingredients tab.
how to make cilantro rice:
- Rinse the rice and pressure cook or cook in an open pot as you always do. Make sure not to over cook the rice.
- Now heat a wok or kadai, add 2 tsp of coconut oil, add chana dal and urad dal and roast in low flame.
- Once you start seeing the color changes to golden , add cumin seeds, curry leaves and green chilies.saute for a second.
- Now add coriander leaves and ⅓ cup of shredded coconut and saute till the nice aroma comes.
- Add tamarind and salt to it and turn off the flame. Tamarind will become soft in the woks heat itself.
- Cool completely and grind the ingredients to fine paste. If needed, water can also be added.
- Now heat a wide wok, add 2 tsp of coconut oil and season with mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering, add peanuts, roast for 30 secs and then add cashews, urad dal,chana dal.cumin seeds and curry leaves.
- To this add ground coriander masala, keep the flame low and stir well.you can notice the raw smell winds off.turn off the flame
- Add cooked rice to it and mix well without mashing the rice. Taste a little bit and add some more salt if needed.
- Add a tsp of ghee (clarified butter) at the final stage and serve with papad or potato fry.
FAQS:
Can we use dried coriander leaves instead of fresh ones?
I recommend using fresh ones as it has good flavor and the dried coriander leaves will lose its freshness of flavor after drying. For podi varieties, we can use dry leaves. In all cuisines, for rice recipes fresh coriander leaves should be used.
What is the shelf life for kothamalli sadam?
You can pack this rice recipe for a lunch box.so you can preserve it upto 5 to 6 hours. If you plan to refrigerate the rice, i dont recommend it. Reheating the rice is not good for your health.
What are the best side dishes for cilantro rice?
Any pan fry recipes like potato fry, senai kizhangu varuval, and chips varieties or vegetable poriyal serve well. If you left out all these options, you can simply serve with papad or pickle or raita recipes.
