HOW TO COOK NIGERIAN COCONUT RICE.

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Photo credit: SisiYemmie

Hi Besties, It is the season of love! 💕What is your food plan for your partner? Do you plan to treat your partner to dinner at home with some scented candles, Or do you plan a picnic or a seat out with friends and loved ones and you are wondering what to cook? Why not try out some creamy coconut rice? 

Coconut rice is one of my favorites. It is a soak-in coconut milk kind of rice, with so much savor, lushness, and delight! Trust me, it is food for love. You can never go wrong with Coconut rice.  

I will be sharing recipes on how to cook coconut rice. If this is your first time hearing about this food, you do not have to worry as I will be sharing step by step process on how to cook this. If you are already familiar with this food, you will be getting some tips on how to spice up your dish. 

Ingredients

4 cups of rice

2 fresh coconut /2 cans of coconut milk 

Coconut oil or any other oil of choice.

1 Green bell pepper

1 root fresh ginger

4 scotch bonnet pepper

Green Chili pepper

2 tbsp crayfish

2 bullion cubes

1 onion

1 tbsp Cayenne pepper(optional)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt

INSTRUCTIONS

• Par boil your rice in a saucepan for 5 minutes, run cold water in it, and drain. Repeat the process until the water is clear. Transfer to a sieve and allow to drain. 

• If you are using fresh coconut, you will want to get the milk out of the coconut. You will have to break the Coconut and separate the meat from the husk. 

• Chop some onions, scotch bonnet pepper, green bell pepper and chili pepper, and set aside. 

• Shred a small amount of your coconut and set aside. Chop the rest into smaller bits and transfer them into your blender. I always prefer to use fresh coconut but you can use coconut milk for this recipe if that is what you can lay your hands on. 

• Add a good amount of water into the blender and blend the coconut until you blend all the pieces out.

• Transfer into a sieve and drain the milk from the shaft. Run some water into the shaft one or two times more until all the milk is out. Be careful not to put too much water so you don't  make the milk too watery

• Heat some coconut oil in a saucepan (you can use some groundnut oil instead if you do not have coconut oil). Add your chopped onion, some grated ginger, and your green bell pepper. Let it fry for about 2 minutes. Make sure the fire is not too hot and also make sure to stir intermittently so it doesn't get burnt.  Lovely colors right? *wink*

• Go ahead to add in your paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, Thyme, salt, and bullion cubes. Stir to incorporate all ingredients. By now you should have a rush of nice aroma😍

• Add the coconut milk to the fries. The milk should cover the rice so that it's enough to get it properly cooked.

• Add some ground crayfish when the rice is almost done. Do not add too much so that it doesn't overpower the taste of the coconut.  (If you are in the diaspora, you can get crayfish from an African store. However, if you can not get a hold of any, you can skip this step.

• Add in your shredded coconut and stir. If at this stage your neighbors are not asking questions to know what you are cooking, you are wrong!😀

• Allow to cook until the rice is tender and your food is ready!

You can serve this as a side or main dish. You can serve it alongside any Protein of choice. 

If you enjoyed this content kindly share your thoughts in the comment section and let me know what you think!