Maharashtrian Narali Bhaat Or Sweetened Coconut Rice
Narali Bhaat or coconut rice is an authentic Maharashtrian cuisine. Its sweet in taste and added flavours of coconut makes this dish divinely tasty. While I’m on a mission of exploring different regional cuisine (which I will post soon on my blog) this seems as a great addition to my food-bank. Well I will give full credit to one of my friend Kirti Mahadik for sharing this beautiful recipe of Narali Bhaat with me. I have given few variations to the authentic recipe.
Well there is a superb story behind this as well. Thats the beauty of our traditional cuisine that every food must have some or other story associated with it. Some we get to know from our grand parents and some still not known to many. This rice is specially made on Narali Poornima (Shravan Poornima). Coconut related dishes are prepared on this day. (Anyways western part and southern part of our country are very fond of coconut. Isn’t it?) This is celebrated as last day of monsoon. So the fishing season starts from this day onwards. So the fishermen offer coconut is offered to Lord Varuna who is known as lord of sea for their safety and prosperity.
Wow.. but this rice is so tasty and you can actually make it on any day. Jaggery is used to sweetened the rice. So from health factor also its a good one. Here to give it some more healthy aspect I am taking brown rice. (I have started low-carb diet and can’t wait to taste this super delicious rice). Again its loaded with lots of raisins and nuts. So healthy for kids as well.
Lets make this Sweetened Coconut Rice or Maharashtrian Narali Bhaat.
Maharashtrian Narali Bhaat Or Sweetened Coconut Rice
Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash rice thoroughly and keep aside in water for 30 minutes.
- In a small pan melt ghee and saute all chopped dry fruits till light golden brown in color in low flame. Else the nuts will get burnt.
- In the same pan add grated coconut after removing the dry fruits. Saute for a minute till its soft and fragrant. Then add jaggery to the pan and let it melt. Bring it to boil for a minute. Then turn off the heat.
- Heat ghee in a pressure cooker. Add cloves and let it be aromatic and puff off.
- At this time strain the rice from water and add into the cooker and saute for a minute. Add melted jaggery and coconut mix and mix well.
- Add water and close the lid. Cook till 1 - 2 whistle and turn off the heat once done.
- Wait for the lid to open. Transfer to Serving bowl. Garnish with roasted dry fruits on top of it. Serve hot.
- This tastes even better after some hours since it absorbs all aromas and flavors.
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