Today, I am excited to share my delicious coconut pilau rice recipe.
This tasty and nutritious dish is sure to become a new family favourite.
Whether you are looking for a quick weeknight dinner or a hearty side dish for your next curry night.
We recently shared a delicious Basa Fish Curry with you, undoubtedly a huge hit.
We gave a sneak peek of our Coconut Pilau Rice in the picture. It is the ultimate side dish to so many meals.
What is Pilau rice?
Pilau rice in basic terms is rice cooked in stock with added herbs/spices and other ingredients, such as meats or vegetables.
In this example of pilau rice, we have added onion, turmeric, cumin, vegetable stock and curry leaves to basmati rice and the star ingredient is desiccated coconut.
Pilau is also similar to Pilaf rice.
See our step by step slide show on how we made our Coconut Pilau Rice, full ingredients and instructions are found on the card below.
Tumeric Health benefits?
Tumeric has many health benefits. It has anti-inflammatory properties, prevents cancers, treats arthritis, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's, helps control diabetes, and improves skin health.
It also promotes weight loss, improves digestion & boosts the immune system.
How to make Coconut Pilau?
So without further ado let me give you a step by step guide to making this Coconut Pilau rice.
Start by frying off a small onion with cumin and Tumeric in a deep lidded pan for 5 minutes.
The onion should be soft and well coloured from the Tumeric.
Next, add the rice and stir for 1 minute whilst it absorbs the yellow colour from the spices.
Next, add your coconut, curry leaves (you can use bay leaves instead) and add your stock.
Bring to the boil, stir, then turn down to the lowest heat setting, place lid on and simmer for 10 minutes.
Take off the heat (do not remove the lid) and leave to stand for 10 minutes or until ready to serve.
Finally, remove curry leaves & use a fork to fluff up the rice.
What makes rice yellow?
Tumeric gives a lovely yellow colour to rice! This is what the Indian restaurants use to give there rice a particularly vibrant glow.
Sprinkle with some more coconut and coriander leaves before serving.
We used Crazy Jacks Desiccated Coconut as it is unquestionably the best! Organic Coconut, with no Added Sulphites.
Gluten-Free, Vegetarian & Vegan friendly. They make a great selection of other Organic fruits, seeds, nuts & grains too.
What to serve pilau with?
Besides the Basa Fish Curry, here are a few of our recent dishes you can serve up with this rice with our Sea Bream with Garlic & Chilli or Sizzling Spicy Pork.
Indian Recipes
We have a few fantastic British Indian Restaurant style curries we have created such as our Chicken Pathia, Bhuna or Balti Curry or a King Prawn Masala or Homemade Lamb Curry.
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Coconut Pilau Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
- 250 g Basmati Rice (1 ⅓ Cup)
- 1 Onion
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 480 ml Vegetable Stock (2 cup) (I used 2 oxo stock cubes)
- 2 Curry Leaves Or Bay Leaves
- 2 tablespoon Desiccated Coconut
- Salt (to taste)
- Fresh coriander leaves (optional) to serve
Instructions
- In a deep lidded pan, heat 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil over medium heat. Add the finely chopped 1 Onion 1 teaspoon Turmeric, and ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin. Cook for approximately 5 minutes until the onion becomes soft and takes on the vibrant color from the turmeric.
- Rinse the 250 g Basmati Rice (1 ⅓ Cup) with water to remove excess starch.
- Add the washed rice to the softened onion and stir for 1 minute until it absorbs the colour from the onion and spices.
- Stir in the 2 tablespoon Desiccated Coconut and 2 Curry Leaves.
- Pour in 480 ml Vegetable Stock (2 cup) . Season with a Salt (to taste). Stir the mixture and bring it to a boil.
- Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Place the lid on the pan and let the rice simmer for 10 minutes.
- After the 10-minute simmer, remove the pan from the heat source. Keep the lid on and allow the rice to continue cooking in the steam undisturbed for an additional 10 minutes, or until you are ready to serve.
- Prior to serving, discard the curry leaves from the rice. Gently fluff the rice using a fork to ensure an even, light texture.
- Serve the flavorful Indian Coconut Pilau Rice with an optional sprinkle of extra shredded coconut and Fresh coriander leaves (optional). Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
How long can you keep leftover rice for?
Do not leave cooked rice out at room temperature for long periods. It should be refrigerated within 1 hour.
After cooling, keep it in an airtight container in the fridge to avoid it spoiling. It will last 3 days in the fridge.
How to reheat rice?
We reheat leftover rice in the microwave.
Place the desired amount in a bowl, add a splash of water, use a fork to separate grains and heat for 2 minutes per serving.
Stir and check it is piping hot throughout.
More Rice Recipes
We have plenty of other rice recipes for you to try, from our basic basmati rice, jasmine rice, or pilau rice. To the more flavoursome onion rice, rice and peas or Italian rice salad.
Let us know in the comments what you serve with this coconut rice?
Wendy
This is the second time I've made your rice recipe and my husband says it's the best rice he's ever tasted. Thankyou so much for sharing your recipe.
Kay
Thank you so much, Wendy 🙂
So nice to hear you and your husband love our coconut pilau rice recipe
Try this rice recipe with our Chicken Pathia Curry its lush 😉
Chef Dennis
I'm starving right now! This Coconut Pilau Rice looks really yummy.
Lindsay
I LOVE making "rice with stuff" like this recipe! The golden color is delicious and I really love this version.
Kay
Thanks, Lindsay
Really nice to hear you liked the recipe 🙂
Enjoy!!
Lara
Love the colour of this rice and the subtle coconut flavour. So easy too!
Kay
Thanks, Lara, your right this is really easy and such a flavoursome rice 🙂
Heather
This was delicious but I had to make a few changes. I toasted the coconut before adding. Added 5 whole cardamom and a shake of black cumin. Threw in a handful of curry leaves and fried with the onions. Your proportion of rice to water was just perfect. Thanks for a lovely recipe which I shall definitely make again.
Kay
Hi Heather, thank you for that nice comment 🙂
The changes sound delicious, really glad you liked the recipe!!
Enjoy
Michelle
This rice is great with curry or by itself! I love anything with turmeric in it.
Kay
Hi Michelle
We love using turmeric with recipes especially our rice it just gives you so many health benefits 🙂
Enjoy!!
Alison
The coconut is such a delicious surprise in this rice! The combination of spices compliment so many dishes!
Kay
Thank you Alison for them nice words, so glad you enjoyed the coconut rice 🙂
Beth
Oh wow! This looks amazing and so delicious! I can't wait to make this! My family and I are going to love this!
Kay
Thanks, Beth
Hope you enjoy the pilau rice recipe 🙂
Let us know your thoughts?
Liz
I had never tried making coconut pilau rice but I've tried it at a restaurant and I loved it! Thank you for this recipe!
Kay
Thanks, Liz for the comment and rating!
Really hope you enjoy this pilau rice recipe 🙂
Let us know your feedback?
Claudia Lamascolo
I make all my rice in coconut milk so this is going to just make it even better with those spices and the recipe is so easy here I am making this with my chicken for Sunday dinner today for sure!
Nicole
This sounds so good! I will definitely be giving this recipe a try this week. Thanks for sharing!
Kay
Hi Nicole
Thanks for your comment
Hope you enjoy the rice recipe:)
Amila
This coconut pilau rice looks so delicious.In Sri Lankan food we have different rice recipes because rice is our staple food.This pilau is a great idea for our meal.
Kay
Hi Amila
Thanks for your comment
Hope you enjoy this recipe 🙂
Shoma
I am a huge fan of rice and I love coconut! This looks so delicious!
Kay
Hi Shoma
Thank you for your comment!
Enjoy:)
Holly Hood
I love the health benefits of tumeric and I cook with it a lot. Coconut Pilau looks delish and it looks like a simple recipe to make. I will be giving it a try.
Kay
Hi Holly
We love using Tumeric in our recipes, the health benefits are awesome!
Enjoy !!
Nyxie
This sounds gorgeous. Honestly, anything with coconut is a win in my book!
Kay
Hi Nyxie
Thank you for your comment 🙂
Enjoy!!
Shoma
This looks absolutely delicious! I am a huge fan of rice!
Kay
Hi Shoma
Thank you 🙂
Hope you enjoy this recipe like we did!!
Monica
This is something I would definitely try! I love anything that has Coconut in it!
Kay
Hi Monica
Thank you!!
We love coconut in our rice, it gives it that extra flavour 🙂
Enjoy!!
Krysten Quiles
Yuuummmm this sounds SO GOOD. And I appreciate you sharing the benefits with us as well. Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!
Kay
Hi Krysten
Thank you for your comment:)
Glad you like the recipe and I hope you enjoy this rice as much as we do!!
Fatima Torres
I didn't know rice only has a three-day life span. Now I need to clean out some of the things I left in the fridge.
Kay
Hi Fatima
We don't leave our rice longer than 3 days, details like this are good to share in a blog with people just in case they don't know!!
Hope you enjoy this recipe 🙂
Marie Phillips
This looks amazing! I would pair it with curried scallops. And now I am so hungry and want to eat it now!
Kay
Hi Marie
Curried scallops sound amazing, will have to give that a try
Hope you enjoy this recipe!!
Amber Myers
This looks like amazing rice! I love that it's coconut. What a fabulous flavor.
Kay
Hi Amber
Thank you for your comment, we love the flavour of coconut rice, just gives it extra flavour with your curry
Hope you enjoy this recipe!!
Tara Pittman
This rice sounds delicious. I like the spices that are added to this rice.
Kay
Hi Tara
Thank you, we love adding the spices always give the rice great flavours!!
GiGi Eats
This sounds and looks insanely flavorful! I should try and make it in this household!
Kay
Hi GiGi Eats
Thank you for your comment, I hope you enjoy this rice recipe as much as we did!!