Carrot Rice Recipe (South Indian Style)

carrot rice garnished with cashews, fried onions and raisins served in a white plate on a checkered white and blue napkin

4.97 from 31 votes

Carrot Rice Recipe (South Indian Style)

This South Indian style Carrot Rice recipe is lightly spiced and delicious rice preparation made with carrots, aromatics, spices, herbs, cashews and cooked rice. It can be made quickly and it also goes well as tiffin box lunch.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: South Indian

Diet: Vegan

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 351kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

For cooking rice

½ cup rice (short to medium grained) or basmati rice or 3 cups cooked rice
¾ to 1 cups water - for pressure cooking
⅛ teaspoon salt or add as required

Other ingredients

½ cup grated carrots or 2 medium carrots grated or 100 grams carrots
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 small tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
½ inch cinnamon
1 to 2 green cardamoms
2 cloves
½ teaspoon chopped green chili or serrano pepper or 1 green chilli
5 to 6 curry leaves (medium-sized)
1 pinch asafoetida (hing) - optional
1.5 tablespoons oil - any neutral flavored oil
salt as required

For garnish

¼ cup sliced onions (tightly packed) or 1 small onion
10 to 12 cashews - kept whole or halved
10 to 12 raisins (without seeds)
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cooking rice

Soak rice in a bowl in enough water for 30 minutes. Drain and then set aside.
You could use any rice like sona masuri, surti kolam or parimal rice or even basmati rice. I used hand pounded sona masuri rice.
Add the rice in a 2 litre pressure cooker along with 0.75 to 1 cups water and salt (optional). Pressure cook for 2 whistles.
Since this rice was hand pounded rice, I cooked for 3 whistles and added 1.25 cups water.
You can also cook the rice in a pot or pan adding 3 to 3.5 cups water. Then drain the water once the rice grains are cooked.
When the rice is cooking, peel and grate 2 medium sized carrots. Keep the grated carrots aside. Also slice 1 small onion and chop one green chili.
When the pressure settles down on its own, open the lid of the cooker.
Gently fluff the rice grains and allow them to cool completely. I cooled the rice in the cooker itself. But you can also take the rice grains in a large plate or tray to cool them.

Sautéing

In a pan heat the oil and add the thinly sliced onions.
Stir and saute the onions on a low to medium heat until onions start to turn light golden. Add a pinch of salt for cooking the onions quickly.
When the onions begin to get light golden, add the cashews and raisins. Mix very well.
Sauté until the raisins become plump. By the time the raisins become plump, the onions will also get golden.
Remove the onions, cashews and raisins with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

Making carrot rice

In the same pan, some oil will be left. Lower the heat. Now add mustard seeds, tej patta, cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves.
Stir and sauté until the mustard crackles.
Now add the chopped green chilies, curry leaves and a pinch of asafetida (optional).
Stir and saute for half a minute. Add the grated carrots. Mix very well.
Saute the carrots for about 3 minutes on a low to medium heat. Depending on the size of gratings, the sautéing can take less or more time.
Add the steamed rice and stir. Season with salt. Again mix very well and switch off the flame.
Lastly add the fried onions, cashews and raisins. Also add chopped coriander leaves.
Mix very well. You can also garnish carrot rice with the fried onions, cashews and raisins while serving.
Serve carrot rice with a side raita or salad.

Serving suggestions

Serve carrot rice with a side of a raita or salad. You can even pack it as a tiffin box lunch with some chutney or a veggie stir fry.
The tangy sour flavors of an onion-tomato salad combine nicely with the mild, sweet flavors of this carrot rice.
In fact a tangy tomato salad or even a mayo salad will pair greatly. If you do not have any veggies, simply serve carrot rice with a simple plain curd (yogurt).

Storage

Though you mostly won't have any leftovers, but in case if you do have, then refrigerate and consume within a day. Do not keep for a longer time in the fridge. Rice is best had when freshly made.

Notes

Using leftover rice: If you have leftover steamed or cooked plain white rice - then you need only 3 cups of it. Simply follow all the recipe steps from sautéing the onions, spices, carrots, and mixing rice with the sautéed mixture.
Cooking rice in a pan: You can easily cook rice in a pan. Add the rice, salt, and 3 to 3.5 cups water in a pan. Simmer on medium-low heat until the rice grains are fluffy and tender. Drain the extra water. Let the cooked rice grains cool at room temperature.
Spicing: For small kids, you can skip the green chilies. If you like spicy food, then you can definitely add more green chilies or couple it with red chili powder or cayenne pepper. You can even add ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder for yellow-colored rice. If you do not have whole spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, substituting about ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder will work too.
Veggies: Apart from carrots, some bell peppers (capsicum), cabbage, and steamed green peas or boiled corn kernels when added will make it a hearty meal.
Gluten-free recipe: To make this carrot rice gluten-free, skip the asafetida or use a gluten-free asafoetida.
Scaling: You could easily make a large batch of this carrot rice recipe.

Nutrition