STOP! in the Name Of Coconut
"I do NOT believe this! I took one look out the window when I woke up this morning, and I'm like, No. I am NOT dealing with this right now," fumed Trobee when she charged into the NC kitchen one morning this week.
It was that first true morning of the winter season... when us northern cold-climate folk awaken to a world that has been blanketed in white -- a declaration of winter's arrival. This phenomenon, though it takes place each year, shocks some into feelings of anger and dread. We at the NC were in denial.
I didn't say what I actually thought as I peeked out the window, that the lawn seems to have been covered in coconut powder. It's better P.R. for coconut to be associated with palm trees, sunshine, and even that Tom Hanks movie....
Coconut, I have found, is another one of those things that people might SAY they don't want, and yet... yet...
Well, take Ruthie, for example. She always says she's not cuckoo for coconut, yet I always remind her that she loves every dish we make that involves coconut.
Maybe the matter of coconut-acceptance has got something to do with context-- the Western (non-Asian) world tends to confine coconut useage to sweets and maybe the occasional pina colada. And aside from the recent trend of crusting fried shrimp on restaurant menus, coconut is unthinkable outside of the sugar cube on the American flavor-imagination.
Maybe it's a texture thing. The tongue-feel of the commonly-used dried coconut shreds
For this post, we at the NC wanted a recipe that would allow you, Our People, to fully savor and 'learn' the lovelight of coconut. Let it shine upon you, on you, in you. Let it shimmy center-stage in the spotlight just this once.
Come this way...
RECIPE B-R-E-A-K-D-O-W-N
We at the NC use coconut powder that we buy from an online Indian store. It's handy stuff, and it's easy to measure out. Once upon a time, when Trina and I suddenly ran out and we needed the stuff pronto, we opted to buy the dried 
sweetened shreds at the supermarket, (even though we have read time and time again using the sweetened kind is, like, totally uncool), and we whizzed it to a powder in our coffee grinder. You know what? This works fine.
As you may know, the general rule for us at the NC is to use food ingredients that we can get at our local supermarket. We figure, hell--if we can buy it at our grocery store, it's common enough to appear in an NC recipe. (We leave the hard-to-find stuff for the spices.)
However...I wanted to experience once and for all the sublime superiority of fresh coconut shreds. At the NC, curiousity overrides all rules. 
So we went to our town's (Vietnamese-centric) Asian grocer. Discovered frozen shreds (not fresh, I know, but recipe authors claim to find them acceptable). Used them in our latest rice recipe (scooped from Bhooma Patterson's online South Indian collection), which we have been over the moon about. Our question (and motivation): Could this Coconut Rice recipe get possibly more gorgeous by using fresh (or frozen) coconut? From all that I have read about the insistence of using fresh vs. dried, we were looking forward to an amazing amplified experience. We expected the
flavor of the fresh coconut to be stunning. Maybe like comparing garlic powder to garlic cloves. The possibilities! Maya Kaimal, watch out!
Not so. The flavor turned out to be much less. I will say that again: The resulting flavor of the Coconut Rice using fresh vs. our usual coconut powder was much less. Shocking, I know, yet Trina and Trobee both arrived at the same conclusion
There's more. We at the NC declare that we even slightly prefer the sweetened variety. At least, the kind that we buy. Point is, in the case of coconut at least, don't necessarily don't believe what you are told is the 'best way'. Commit to your reality, not a 'correct' idea. Taste. Experiment. Do as you like.
* * *
Now I'm going to bring up coconut oil. TRULY a worthwhile topic. Read on.
People who grew up outside of Asia (and without Asian parents) will likely be unfamiliar with it. And it's gotten a bad rep health wise, especially because it gets semi-solid at room temperature. At least, that's why I didn't use it for so long. I have no need to crave yet another thing that is bad for me.
When I at last tapped in to the truth about coconut oil, (mystically delicious AND healthy) I thought I'd try it. I had commonly seen it listed (meanwhile 
automatically ignoring it) in so many South Indian recipes... and if a recipe insisted upon it, I ignored the entire recipe. Moved on. Sorry, Kerala.
Yes. Yes. The truth comes out. It's not only Ruthie that was slow to give coconut proper credit. I confess... well I will never do so again. Never. Ever.
Shout out to Nathan Guerra for the top-of-the-post pic, 'Strange Signs'
...and m.a.r.c. for his pic, 'Caution'
photos by Trina and Trobee
Coconut Rice
Here is the deal. The focus at Naughty Curry is the spicing. But let me tell you-- if you use coconut oil in this little jewel of a recipe, prepare to be blown away. The flavor will be transcendant.
- 1 cup rice
- 1 tsp oil, then 2 tsp later (try using coconut oil if you can)
- 3/4 cup coconut powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 10 jalapeno rings, minced (Trina leaves these out, Trobee adds many more)
- 3 Tb cashews and/or peanuts
Masala:
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1 tsp raw chickpeas/chana dal/dalia
- 1/4 tsp asafetida
- 2 dried red chilies
- 5 curry leaves
- Cook the rice and set it aside to wait for coming attractions.
- In a small skillet, heat the oil until it is sizzle-hot. Add the coconut and cook until it is light brown. Pour this over the rice and stir it in.
- Back to the skillet. Heat 2 tsp oil until it is sizzle-hot. Add the masala and jalapeno rings, and cook until the black mustard seeds have popped. Immediately empty the pan's contents onto the rice and mix well.
- Finally, dry-roast the nuts until they turn a few shades darker. Add them to the mixture. Done
