Coconut Rice with Maple Roasted Cashews and Pickles
By: Merritt
Having a delicious side dish in your back pocket, is a secret super power that all home cooks need. This recipe for coconut rice made in a rice cooker is a fantastic appetizer or accompaniment, especially when served with homemade quick pickles, and chili roasted cashews. The combination is a great side for your favorite main dishes but also works great as snack all on its own.
The rice is mixed with rich coconut milk and cilantro. It comes out of the rice cooker as a perfectly creamy rice that is mild but so good. The cashews are roasted with chili and maple syrup so that they bring a sweet heat and finally the quick pickled onions offer some much needed tang that balances the whole dish out!
This post will walk you through how to make a fantastic rice dish that is flavorful, crowd pleasing, and a great addition to any table.
Why You Will Love This Dish:
Having a creative way to serve rice will never fail to impress your guests or be helpful in switching up your routine. You will love how many dishes this rice goes with! The chili roasted cashews are a crunchy little recipe that you may find you make to go with salads, veggies, or soups. You will also love using quick pickles in this way. They offer crunchy texture and like the cashews, you will find so many more uses for them than just this dish!
Common Questions for Coconut Rice
What Kind of Rice Do I Need?
Short grain to long grain white rice goes best with coconut milk. White rice has less of a flavor than wild or brown rice, making it a great base for absorbing the coconut milk and cilantro flavors. Other rice varieties may take over the flavor profile more, but if you try a rice type and love it, please let me know!
Do I Need To Wash My Rice?
Yes, it is good practice to wash your rice. Washing your rice gives it great texture and helps wash out any impurities that may have snuck into the bag. I wash my rice directly in the bowl that I will be cooking it in, but you can use a grain colander as well, or a fine mesh strainer.
What Else Can I Add To Coconut Milk Rice?
This recipe uses cilantro and salt to compliment the coconut milk flavors. A good addition would be a fresh squeeze of lime juice when serving. Since the quick pickles have quite a bit of acid in them, I prefer not to add lime juice as well for this dish but it would taste good if you leave the pickles out.
You can also add other spices to coconut milk. Try adding a little bit of ginger, some garlic, or some chili oil when serving to give it some extra spice.
What is in Chili Roasted Cashews?
Chili roasted cashews are a simple combination of chili powder, maple syrup, olive oil, and black pepper. I use roasted and salted cashews since they bake really quickly and get a little crunchy. You can also use un-roasted cashews but the bake time may be a few minutes longer.
The maple syrup in the mixture will melt and re-harden as something close to a toffee when it cools. It crumbles with the cashews and makes for a sweet but slightly spicy addition. You can also use honey or a little white sugar to get that sweet note in these cashews.
What Else Goes With This Dish?
This version of coconut rice goes with so many different dishes! I have listed a few of my favorite pairings below that you may like to enjoy.
Try topping your rice with a flank steak in soy marinade. Its a recipe I suggest most often because its flavor goes so well with a ton of recipes.
Miso butter salmon is an umami rich dish that would be perfect mixed into this recipe. The miso butter would be a great flavor that mixes with the creamy coconut and tangy pickles.
Try switching out the rice in this hoisin sauce chicken and rice dish with this coconut rice! You will love all the extra flavor.
How Long Do Quick Pickles Last?
Quick pickled onions and cucumbers will last in your fridge for about a week. Onions alone can usually last for about 2 weeks. If you are unsure on if your quick pickles are still good, look for slime across the top of the liquid, lots of little bubbles that may indicate something is growing, or if it smells bad. If you are unsure at all, its usually safer to toss your batch and start over!
How Much Liquid To Add to Your Rice?
In general, a 2-1 ratio of liquid to rice will give you great rice. I always measure the liquid levels up to my first knuckle to make sure there is enough water. I call for 1 cup of coconut milk and then 1-1.5 cups of water as the different water amounts might change based on the pot you are using.
Recipes:
Recipe: quick pickled onions and pickles
- See this recipe for the quick pickled onion brine: Quick Pickled Onion Recipe
- add 1/2 large cucumber in addition to the red onion.
Recipe: Coconut Rice
- 1 cup short grain rice any kind will do. You can also you medium to long grain white rice.
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1-1.5 cups water See note above for liquid levels needed.
- 1-2 cups of cilantro rough chopped and separated
- 1/2 tsp salt
Recipe: Chili Roasted Cashews
- 2/3 cup Cashews I used roasted and salted but any type will do.
- 1 tsp chili powder I used kashmiri chili but any type will do
- 1 Tbs olive oil any oil will work
- 1-2 tsp Maple Syrup
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
How To Coconut Cilantro Rice with Cashews and Quick Pickles:
Make the Quick Pickled Onions and Cucumbers
I use my recipe for quick pickled onions for this process.
And then just add 1/2 -1 whole cucumber to the mixture.
Wash and Rinse the Rice
Wash your rice by rinsing the rice at least three times or until the water runs clear.
To a rice cooker, add the rice, coconut milk, and enough water to bring the liquid up to your first knuckle.
Mix in the cilantro and the salt.
Press start on the white rice setting and wait!
Make the Cashews
Pre-heat the oven to 325F
To a parchment paper lined baking sheet, add the cashews, olive oil, chili powder, maple syrup, and black pepper
Toss to combine and then spread the cashews out
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the mixture is bubbly, stirring at the halfway point.
Coconut Rice with Roasted Cashews and Quick Pickles
Ingredients
- See this recipe for the quick pickled onion brine: Quick Pickled Onion Recipe
- add 1/2 large cucumber in addition to the red onion.
- 1 cup short grain rice
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1- 1.5 cups water
- 1 cup of cilantro, rough chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup Cashews
- 1 tsp chili powder** I used kashmiri chili but any type will do
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1-2 tsp Maple Syrup
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Nutrition Facts
Calories
470Fat
26 gCarbs
53 gProtein
10 gCholesterol
0 mgNote: Nutritional information is an estimate only. Exact values will vary based on specific ingredients used.
