West African Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice – A savory side dish made with rice, cooked in aromatic coconut milk. It is so rich, luscious and bursting with aromatic coconut flavors. You will be surprised that a Rice recipe this simple has so much flavor.

How to make Coconut Rice

It’s not an exaggeration to say that rice is eaten at least two to three times a week in an average Nigerian home. We make rice recipes like jollof rice, fried rice, rice and beans, native jollof rice, and many more rice recipes. we eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sometimes for snacks.

Rice is hands down my favorite grain because:

• It’s very versatile. It pairs so well with fish, chicken, meat, or vegetables
• I grew up eating rice, so I’m conditioned to eating it.
• I can’t resist it

Coconut rice is a staple in most Nigerian homes. However, the way we make it differ from home to home. I have adapted my moms’ delicious recipe and as usual, I added my own spin by using the chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken. The broth from the dark meat of the chicken adds more flavor to the coconut rice. (You can remove the skin on the thighs to economize on the fat).

I also used crayfish in my own recipe. Just a small amount of crayfish adds a rich flavor to the rice. If you don’t have crayfish, don’t let that stop you from making this recipe. You can skip it.

Not only is this coconut rice delicious, but it can also be addictive. It also has quite a kick from the habaneros. Not to worry, the heat can easily be controlled by using less habaneros or simply remove the seeds. This will reduce the heat level. Jalapenos can also be used in place of habaneros.

I always love to use the full-fat coconut milk in my coconut rice for that rich coconutty flavor but I’m aware some people like it light; so feel free to use the light coconut milk for a milder coconut flavor but the real thing is so much better! and if you really want to go coco-NUTS, you can garnish lightly with toasted coconut flakes!!

Notes

• Be sure to rinse the rice before cooking it. This will reduce the starch content in the rice a bit.
• Cook the rice on a low simmer to prevent it from burning
• The can coconut milk works best for this recipe not the ones in the cold milk section.
• For this recipe, I used basmati rice, however, you can use any type of rice you like but note that cooking time varies for different types of rice.

Other rice recipes you might want to try:

• Nigerian Jollof Rice
• Oven-baked Nigerian Jollof Rice
• Fried rice
• Rice and Beans
• Native Jollof rice
• Coconut Fried Rice With Extra veggies
• Delicious Jamaican Rice And Peas

**This coconut Rice recipe can easily be divided to serve a lesser number of people and can also be doubled to serve a larger group. Happy cooking!

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