Indian Style Coconut Rice Noodles Recipe

This Indian style Coconut Rice noodles recipe is a quick and easy recipe. It is perfect to make for quick breakfast or lunch. Toasted Coconut adds lots of flavor to the dish.

For the second day of this week's blogging marathon 'Instant dishes' theme, I made this quick and easy rice noodles with coconut. This dish takes less than 20 minutes to make and is great to serve for breakfast or lunch or after school snack.

Homemade Rice Noodles | Sevai

Traditionally rice noodles or Sevai are made from scratch in South India. I have tried making them couple of times but my attempts were not too successful. Then I realized I could use rice noodles found in Asian section of the grocery store and the results were almost similar. I am a big fan of simplifying, so this worked out perfect for me.

When buying rice noodles, look for brands that have only rice and water as ingredients. They come in several different widths - starting from thick noodles used in Pad Thai to skinny rice vermicelli. The thin vermicelli size is the most closest in shape to traditionally made rice sevai.

How to Cook Rice Vermicelli:

Rice noodles are available in fresh and dried forms. Fresh ones are in the refrigerated section while the dried ones are with other Asian ingredients (more likely) or in the pasta/ noodle section (less likely). Fresh noodles to be soaked in boiling water for less than 30 seconds.

Dried noodles are similar to pasta and need to be cooked in boiling water for about 3~5 minutes. Follow the package instructions - this might change from brand to brand.

Ingredients

Rice noodles are widely used in South India especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They are typically made from scratch and then they can be cooked in several different ways.

Toss them with toasted peanuts, lentils and some lemon juice to make Lemon Sevai - similar to this rice dish. Sky's the limit on how these can be cooked and served.

Today I have a version that uses coconut to flavor the dish. Thengai (coconut) Sevai (noodles) is one of the popular versions. You will need:

• Rice noodles
• Coconut (fresh or dry)*
• Cashews
• Green/ red Thai chilies
• Mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves - these ingredients can be easily found in Indian grocery store. Skip these ingredients if you don't have access to them. The dish will still taste amazing.

Instructions

Break the rice noodles into smaller pieces. Cook them as per package instructions. I use dried noodles. Drain and rinse with cold water. Then keep aside until ready to use.

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium flame. Add the mustard seeds and once they start to pop, add the urad dal and cashews. Cook until they are golden brown.

Add the onions, curry leaves green chilies and cook for 3~4 minutes or until the onion is lightly browned around the edges.

Add the grated coconut and stir fry 1~2 minutes or until the coconut turns golden brown.

Stir in the cooked rice noodles and salt. Toss to make sure all the ingredients are well combined and the noodles are heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve right away.

Tips

• Make sure that the rice noodles are not overcooked. This will make them clumpy and that's not very appealing.
• If using dried coconut, then soak it in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and use as needed.
• I always have frozen grated coconut in my freezer. So I can just break off a chunk and defrost in the microwave for using in recipes like this.
• Toasting coconut until golden brown makes it nutty and delicious. This is an important step in making the dish, so make sure to take your time and not burn it.

How to Serve?

• Serve with a pickle on top for a spicy kick.
• Serve with your favorite dal and/ or yogurt.

Don't forget to check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up for today.