Spice Up Your Life: Aromatic Indian Coconut Rice

This fragrant spiced coconut rice, which makes for a delightfully different pareve side (and also serves as a great vegan main) hails from a Jewish community with a positively Shakespearean origin story.

The Bene Israel are the largest of India’s three Jewish communities (the other two being the Cochinis and Baghdadis). According to Bene Israel tradition, the community descends from seven men and seven women from Palestine who survived a shipwreck off the coast of India in the second century BCE. The survivors were cast ashore on the Konkan peninsula, south of Bombay on India’s west coast, in the region of Maharashtra, where they lived in isolation for centuries.

Traditionally farmers and oil pressers, the Bene Israel were known to their neighbors as Shanwar Telis (Sabbath-observing oilmen), and over time they adopted the customs, names, dress, and foods of their neighbors—as well as their language, Marathi.

Until the mid-eighteenth century, when they came into contact with the Cochini Jews of southwest India, the Bene Israel were unknown to the rest of world Jewry.  The Cochinis recognized the Bene Israel as Jews because they observed Shabbat and some of the holidays, practiced circumcision on the eighth day, followed the laws of kashrut, and recited the Shema—although that was the only Hebrew prayer they knew.

The Cochinis sent teachers to fill in the gaps in knowledge lost during the Bene Israel’s centuries of isolation, and eventually most of the population moved from their villages to Bombay. Though the Bene Israel historically had mostly harmonious relations with their Hindu and Muslim neighbors, both before and after their relocation to Bombay, after India gained independence in 1947 and the state of Israel was established in 1948 most left—many for Israel, but some for Britain, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Today Bombay is home to most of what remains of India’s dwindling Jewish population.

According to Claudia Roden, Bene Israel cooking differs from Hindu and Muslim Maharashtrian cuisine in that it includes more onion, coconut, and tomato, and uses lemon for sourness where curds or yogurt might be used by Muslims. Rice and coconut (both grated, fresh and dry, and as coconut milk), both grown in the Konkan, are both ubiquitous in Maharashtrian food.

This dish would’ve traditionally been prepared with fresh coconut milk, made by steeping grated coconut meat in water; this being a time-consuming process, it was served only for Shabbat and at other celebrations. Today, with easy access to canned coconut milk, this is a simple dish you can enjoy any day of the week.

This coconut rice recipe is slightly adapted from Gil Marks’s Olive Trees and Honey; I’ve streamlined it a bit for easier home cooking, but tried to stay true to the spirit of the original. As is, the coconut rice makes a great pareve (assuming you opt for vegetable or coconut oil rather than ghee) side; if you want to make it a main, as I did, throw in a can of pigeon peas to add some protein.

Indian Coconut Rice (Nariyal Chawal)

1 tablespoon ghee, vegetable oil, or coconut oil

1 to 3 small green chilies, seeded and minced (optional)

2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained

3 cups coconut milk, regular or light

2 cups cooked pigeon peas, optional

1 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

½ cups raw cashews, optional

¼ cup raisins, optional

3 tablespoons grated coconut, fresh or dried, optional

In a medium saucepan, melt the ghee or heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chilies, if using, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the rice and sir, 1 minute.

Add the coconut milk, water, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve warm, topped with cashews, raisins, and/or coconut, depending on your preference.

Sources: The Book of Jewish Food (Claudia Roden, 1996); “Jewish Indian Cuisine,” My Jewish Learning (Copeland Marks); Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities around the World (Gil Marks, 2004)

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