Fluffy Coconut Basmati Rice

Alisa's Recipes22 Comments

Sweet and sour chicken … it was something I had always wanted to recreate at home, but never quite got around to. Well last week the night for my home-cooked, Chinese take-out adventure arrived. I found a simple recipe in one of the many magazines I read (Cooking Light perhaps?), and I just happened to have all of the ingredients on hand.

The recipe came together very quickly, and the colors of the dish were vibrant … too bad it tasted like crap. I mean seriously, they paid someone to come up with that formula? We ate it, I mean, it wasn’t so horrible that it needed to be thrown out, but it won’t be repeated and I won’t even be attempting to modify that recipe to improve … it’s just not worth the ingredients. Tony said it tasted like ham and pineapple pizza. Mind you, we both like Canadian bacon + pineapple pizza, but this was not the right format.

Buuuuuuut … the rice, oh the rice. I had received some Texmati Rice for review and thought my “special entrée” deserved something beyond plain old white rice. It was a white basmati, so I knew it would be light and fluffy, but a couple of additional ingredients amped up the comfort factor. This wasn’t one of those smack you in the face flavor kind of sides, but rather a really simple and mellow feel good food, if you will.

So though I had hoped to share a killer Chinese sweet & sour recipe with you (I use the word “Chinese” loosely here, as the recipe-gone-awry was even more Americanized than Americanized Chinese cuisine), at least I have a delightful side dish recipe to share …

Basmati Coconut Rice

The coconut milk adds to the fluffiness and richness of this rice, but the coconut flavor is very, very subtle. If you want more of a coconut vibe, feel free to add in some unsweetened coconut shreds. This rice goes wonderfully with bright stir-fries and Thai food.

This recipe is Vegan, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Soy-Free, and Sugar-Free.

  • 2 Cups Basmati Rice (I used Texmati White Basmati Rice)
  • 1/2 Cup Regular (full fat) Coconut Milk (the kind sold in cans)
  • 3 Cups Water
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Serves 6

P.S. ~ I also tried the Texmati Brown Rice. It was a lovely grain, and quite fluffy for a brown rice. I actually ate most of it for breakfast, with cinnamon, freshly ground pecan butter and a few other flavor treats … I probably should have written that down to share too, but I’m hungry in the mornings and my mind isn’t always on recipes! I have to agree with HEAB that the Texmati brown rice does have a sweet popcorn smell as it cooks!

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