Chhattisgarh's ritual sweet rice preparation made with red or black local rice varieties cooked with jaggery and coconut — offered at festivals and the ceremony of the fourteenth day after a birth.
Ingredients
1 cup red or black Chhattisgarhi rice (local traditional varieties; substitute with red rice available at health food stores)
2.5 cups water
1/2 cup jaggery — dissolved in 3 tbsp warm water and strained
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
1 tbsp ghee
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Method
Wash the rice. Soak 20 minutes. Drain.
Cook rice in 2.5 cups water: bring to a boil, stir once, reduce to the lowest heat, cover tightly, cook 25 to 28 minutes.
Red and black traditional rice varieties take longer than white rice.
Rest covered 5 minutes.
Gently fluff the cooked rice. It should be completely tender with a slight chewiness from the bran layer.
Add dissolved strained jaggery. Stir gently.
Add freshly grated coconut, ghee and cardamom powder. Fold gently.
Steam 3 to 4 more minutes to let the jaggery absorb into the rice.