Coriander Rice
I made some nice rice recipe which is one of my favourites. It is packed with full of flavour but so easy peasy to make. In fact the cool thing in this is. You can make the masala in bulk and store in freezer. So if you need to pack a quick lunch or make something very fast, take some masala from the freezer warm it in a kadai or microwave and mix rice with that. How easy is that. But it is not hard to make from scratch too, I made this within 15 minutes. I made this a month back along with some mint rice. I served it with papad, curd and pickle. Mean while check out kothammali rasam and green chutney.
About Coriander Rice
Coriander is a herb also known as cilantro, Chinese parsley, or dhania. Originating in south west Asia, coriander now grows throughout north Africa. It is known as koththamuhlli in Sri Lankan and is brewed and consumed to treat the common cold and fever because it is thought to have medicinal properties. It is good for heart, blood pressure and cholesterol. As as South Indian coriander is used in wide variety of dishes in different forms. Coriander seeds are ground into coriander powder. Coriander rice also known as kothamalli sadham, kothamalli sadam, coriander sadham, cilantro rice is made with fresh coriander leaves, cooked rice, spices, and ghee are used to make the fragrant, flavourful, and spiced rice known as coriander rice. This is similar to my mint rice, vangi bhat (brinjal rice), coconut rice, and carrot rice. This recipe for coriander rice is great for meal prep and storage. You can prepare the masala and store in fridge upto 10 days. When ready to serve, mix with cooked rice with some extra ghee or gingelly oil and enjoy. This is great for bachelors, office goers, and hostel students.
Similar Recipes,
Mint Rice Tomato Rice Tamarind Rice
Watch Coriander Rice Video
Coriander Rice Ingredients
Coriander Leaves - use fresh coriander leaves, make sure you wash it really well. You can use a combination of coriander leaves and mint leaves for a different flavour. Tempering - I use cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom, chana dal, urad dal, dry chilli, curry leaves and peanuts for tempering. Onions - Onions are considered a basic ingredient or the foundation of Indian cooking and are used to make any gravy, curry, or bhuna dish. The flavour and aroma of onion transforms any ordinary dish into a mouthwatering and delectable one. I used onion along with the coriander leaves for grinding. You can use peeled shallots instead of onions. Ginger - Amma used to add a small piece of ginger when grinding which provides a wonderful aroma. You can add garlic as well. Fresh ginger has a slightly peppery and sweet flavour, as well as a pungent and spicy aroma. Fresh ginger, like garlic, softens with cooking. It’s a common flavouring in Asian dishes. Ghee - I used pure ghee for making coriander rice which adds aroma. Rice - You can use basmati rice, seera samba rice or regular ponni rice.
Coriander Leaves vs Cilantro vs Parsley
One of the main confusion happens among the green leafy family is differentiating coriander leaves, cilantro and parsley. Coriander leaves and cilantro both are same. Cilantro is also called Coriander or Chinese Parsley in India. Coriander and parsley, both are green in colour with long stems. The shape of the leaf is what differentiates them. Parsley has pointed leaves while coriander or cilantro has flat leaves. In this recipe, coriander or cilantro plays an important role. So try and use fresh coriander leaves you can find. The flavour of the coriander leaves should be crisp, tart, and citrusy. The dried fruit of the plant, which can be used whole or ground, is coriander seeds. It has an earthy, tart, and sweet flavour with a toasted floral aroma. Use fresh coriander leaves, make sure you wash it really well to remove the sand, dirt or any grits. You can use a combination of coriander leaves and mint leaves for a different flavour.
Coriander Rice Thokku (Storage - Meal Prep)
This thokku or masala for coriander rice has long shelf life because we didn’t add any coconut in them. My mom makes a kothamalli thokku recipe which has coconut, which lowers the shelf. This recipe for coriander rice is great for meal prep and storage. You can prepare the masala and store in fridge upto 10 days. When ready to serve, mix with cooked rice with some extra ghee or gingelly oil and enjoy. This is great for bachelors, office goers, and hostel students.
How to Cook Rice for Variety Rice
For any type of variety rice you have to take great care when cooking rice. Traditionally in Asian household rice cooker is used to cook rice which is easy, convenient and timesaving. But if you don’t own a rice cooker, you can cook rice in just a sauce pot. There are two method in which you can cook rice. Draining method and absorption method. Any which way you choose, cooking rice is quite easy. Make sure you check my blog post “how to basmati rice”for detailed instructions.
Absorption Method
Cooking rice using absorption method is by far the easy way to cook rice. All you have to remember is to follow few steps and the correct ratio of water to rice. Rice cooked using absorption method needs to sit in the fridge and get cold before making fried rice.
Ratio for Cooking Rice in Absorbtion method
1 cup basmati rice 1.5 cup water 1 tsp salt
Draining Method
The key point you have to remember when cooking basmati rice by draining method is, you have to always stand near it and also keep on tasting the rice, so you never end up in mushy sticky rice.
Ratio for Cooking Rice in Draining method
1 cup basmati rice 5 to 6 cups water 2 tsp salt
How to Make Coriander Rice (Stepwise pictures)
Grinding Coriander paste
1)Take coriander leaves, peeled shallots, peeled ginger, green chillies in a blender. Pro Tip: You can even add in peeled garlic for a different flavour. If you want, you can add in grated coconut in this as well. 2)Grind the masala to a paste. you can add little water when grinding. Don’t make it to a smooth puree. It can be slightly coarse too.
Tempering Spices
3)Heat oil or ghee in a kadai. Once the oil is hot, add peanuts. Let it roast for one minute till it gets light golden. 4)Add in urad dal and chana dal. Allow them to sizzle in the oil for a minute. Let the dals gets light golden. 5)Add in a small piece of cinnamon stick, cardamom and bay leaf. Fry them for few seconds. Always make sure the flame is low. Once the spices gets aromatic. 6)Add in dry red chillies and curry leaves and mix well. For a different texture, you can use cashews in this recipe. 7)let all the spices sizzle till golden brown.
Cooking Thokku
8)Now add in the ground onion and coriander paste. Now we are going to cook this on medium heat till oil separates. 9)Don’t cover the pot which will darken the green coriander leaves colour. Cook the masala till it gets thick. 10)Add salt to taste. 11)Add in lemon juice to taste. 12)Cook the coriander leaves thokku till this point. Oil or ghee should be separated from the mix which will make this thokku last longer.
Mixing in rice
13)Add in cooked rice into the thokku and mix well. Make sure every grains of rice is coated with the masala. Pro Tip: Using leftover cold cooked rice is good for these kinds of variety rice. 10)Serve coriander rice hot.
Expert Tips
You can use leftover cooked rice for this recipe which provides best results. You can make double batch of the kothamalli thokku and store in fridge. Along with peanuts, cashews can be used too. You can add half mint leaves along with coriander leaves when grinding. Gingelly oil can be used instead of ghee. Garlic can be added with ginger when grinding.
Storage
This recipe for coriander rice is great for meal prep and storage. You can prepare the masala and store in fridge upto 10 days. When ready to serve, mix with cooked rice with some extra ghee or gingelly oil and enjoy. This is great for bachelors, office goers, and hostel students.
More Rice Recipes to Explore
📖 Recipe Card
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook,Pinterest ,Youtube for more Yummy Tummy inspiration. IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR ANYTHING FROM YUMMY TUMMY, MAKE SURE TO POST IT AND TAG ME SO I CAN SEE ALL OF YOUR CREATIONS!! IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR ANYTHING FROM YUMMY TUMMY, MAKE SURE TO POST IT AND TAG ME SO I CAN SEE ALL OF YOUR CREATIONS!! #YUMMYTUMMYAARTHI AND @YUMMYTUMMYAARTHI ON INSTAGRAM!
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