How to cook coconut fried rice

 By Tolani

Rice is a common food in Nigeria eaten by a lot of people every day. We have different types of recipes for cooking rice. For example, jollof and fried rice are common ways people cook rice. However, when we cook fried rice with a little spice, coconut milk and coconut oil, it is called coconut fried rice.

Coconut rice is not common. Nigerians hardly talk about it and to get it in a restaurant, you must be on reservation except the restaurant is specially known for having coconut fried rice. It is less stressful and not hard but if not properly prepared, the coconut will outshine the actual taste we want. The method is not different from fried rice, we are just adding a few ingredients. To cook coconut fried rice, these are the ingredients you'll need;

Ingredients

Coconut milk

Uncooked rice

Coconut oil chicken stock 

Vegetables

Liver, boiled, cubed and fried (optional)

Sweet corn 

Chilies

Curry powder

Thyme

Vegetable oil (you'll use less oil if you are using chicken stock that already has oil)

Salt to taste

Sliced onions

How to make Coconut Fried Rice

Rinse the rice till the water runs clean

Place a pot on medium heat. Add coconut milk, coconut oil, chicken stock, and rinsed rice. Mix to combine. (Top up with water if needed.) Reduce the heat and boil the rice for about 8-10 minutes.

Add curry powder, thyme, and salt to taste. Mix everything till it's well combined.

Reduce the heat and cook rice until rice is tender and light. Once the rice is cooked, add the chopped chillies and stir in to combine. Take the rice off the heat and set aside

Then place a pan on medium heat, add vegetable oil and leave until hot. Add mixed vegetables and chopped onions and stir fry until onions become translucent. This should be between 3-5 minutes.

Add a pinch of curry, thyme and seasoning to the vegetables and stir together. Followed by the fried livers and stir fry for another minute. Add sweet corn, stir together to combine and take off the heat. 

Place the cooked coconut rice back on medium heat, add the stir-fried vegetables and combine. At this stage of the cooking, you would not need to add water/stock to the rice. 

Then take the rice off the heat and serve with the protein of choice. I recommend spicy chicken; it does the job well. 

Your Coconut fried rice is ready to serve. Enjoy!