Narali Bhat ~ Sweet Coconut Rice

Narali Bhat is specially made on Narali Pournima. Narali Pournima and Raksha-bandhan falls on same day. Narali Pournima is mostly celebrated in Maharashtra. Narali Pournima is celebrated in large scale in Koli community (Fishermen).
On narali pournima, people do sea-worship by throwing coconuts into the sea in Konkan. We prepare some sweet goodies from coconut. We offer narali bhat to God. Narali bhat is heavenly blend of rice, coconut and jaggery.

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

Ingredients:

• Rice (Basmati tukada or Ambe Mohar)- 1 cup
• Clarified butter/Pure Ghee- 3 to 4 tbsp
• Jaggery, grated- ¾ cup to 1 cup 
• Clove- 4
• Fresh coconut, scrapped- 2 cups
• Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
• Nutmeg powder- ½ tsp
• Salt - a pinch  (¼ tsp)
• Cashew nuts, sliced- ¼ cup
• Raisins/Kishmish (golden or black)- 2 tbsp  

Method:

• Wash and strain the rice. Keep in strainer for 15 min.
• Boil 2 ¼ cups of water.
• Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a casserole. (You can use pressure pan.)
• Fry the cloves in the ghee for few seconds. Add rice and fry lightly for 2 minutes on med heat.
• Add hot water to the rice. Add salt also. Cover and cook the rice. (or pressure cook.)
• Meanwhile combine scrapped coconut, jaggery, cardamom & nutmeg powder. Mix and mash lightly with hand.
• Once rice is cooked nicely, put it into a big plate and spread evenly.
• While the rice is still hot, add coconut mixture into the rice. Mix very gently. Otherwise, rice grains may get broke. 
• Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a non-stick or heavy bottom deep & large pan/wok.
• Add and fry cashew nuts in the ghee till they turns golden brown. Fry slightly kishmish. 
• Immediately add this rice and give nice stir gently.
• Keep tava under pan/wok. This prevents rice from burning.
• Cover with a lid. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally.
• While cooking rice, jaggery melts and rice become thin previously.
• When rice gets thick, switch off the gas. Do not reduce its whole moisture. Soft rice tastes better.
•  Keep covered for 15 minutes.
• Serve hot or on room temperature. 

Tips:

• Here I used natural/organic jaggery, thus rice got dark brown colour. But you may use regular yellow jaggery.
• Adjust the jaggery ¾ cup to 1 cup, how sweet you like.
• Rice should be cooked completely. Rice can not cook after adding jaggery. 
• Do not overcook, coconut rice become hard. Because jaggery become more thick and stiff after heating.
• You can use sugar instead of jaggery. Or you can use half quantity of sugar and half quantity of jaggery.  

Authentic Method:

Ingredients:

• Rice (Basmati tukada or Ambe Mohar)- 1 cup
• Clarified butter/Pure Ghee- 2 tbsp
• Jaggery, grated- ¾ to 1 cup 
• Clove- 4
• Fresh coconut, scrapped- 2 cups ~from 1 large coconut (Read more in notes.)
• Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
• Nutmeg powder- ½ tsp
• Saffron - a pinch (optional)
• Salt - a pinch  (¼ tsp)
• Cashew nuts, sliced- ¼ cup
• Raisins/Kishmish (golden or black)- 2 tbsp  

Method:

• Wash and strain the rice. Keep in strainer for ½ to 1 hour.
• Scrap the coconut. Take only white part. Do not take bottom brown part.
• Blend the scrapped coconut with 1 cup of warm water. Squeeze out the coconut milk with the help of a fine strainer. You will get approx 1 ½ cup of thick coconut milk. This is first extract. 
• Blend the scrapped coconut with 1 cup of warm water. Repeat this process. Now you will get approx 1 cup coconut milk. This is second extract. 
• Heat the ghee in a non-stick or heavy bottom deep & large pan/casserole. Fry the cloves in the ghee for few seconds.
• Add and fry cashew nuts in the ghee till they turns golden brown.
• Add rice and fry lightly for 2 minutes on med heat.
• Meanwhile heat second extract of coconut milk.
• Pour this hot coconut milk into the pan. Add saffron, salt and mix well. Cover and cook the rice for a minute. 
• Now pour thick coconut milk into the pan and cook the rice completely. You can add more water if required. 
• Once the rice is completely cooked, add raisins, jaggery, cardamom & nutmeg powder. Mix very gently and well, otherwise rice grains may get broke. 
• While cooking rice, jaggery melts and rice become thin previously .
• Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally.
• When rice gets thick, switch off the gas. Do not reduce its whole moisture. Soft rice tastes better.
• Keep covered for 15 minutes.
• Serve hot or on room temperature. 

Tips:

• One thing keep in mind: You have to use 2 ¼ cups liquid (i.e. coconut milk+water) for 1 cup of rice.
• You can use readymade coconut milk.
• Here I used natural/organic jaggery, thus rice got dark brown colour. But you may use regular yellow jaggery.
• Adjust the jaggery ¾ cup to 1 cup, how sweet you like.
• Rice should be cooked completely. Rice can not cook after adding jaggery. 
• Do not overcook, coconut rice become hard. Because jaggery become more thick and stiff after heating.