Freshly harvested red rice cooked with jaggery, fresh coconut and cardamom into a sweet rice preparation made specifically during the new rice harvest festival (Navakhana). A ritual food offering eaten once a year in Chhattisgarh.
Ingredients
1.5 cups red rice (or regular short-grain rice if red rice unavailable)
3 cups water
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
1/2 cup jaggery — grated
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp ghee
Method
Wash the red rice: Wash 1.5 cups red rice in 3 to 4 changes of water until the water runs mostly clear. Red rice releases more colour into the washing water than white rice — this is normal. The water will turn pinkish-red.
Cook the rice: Place the washed rice in a pot with 3 cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a full boil on high heat. Reduce to the lowest heat. Cover tightly. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Red rice takes longer to cook than white rice — test by pressing a grain between your fingers, it should mash completely. If still firm, cook 5 more minutes with a splash of water.
Check doneness: Open the lid. All water should have been absorbed. The rice should look slightly sticky and the colour will be a deep reddish-brown.
Add jaggery: While the rice is still hot on very low heat, add the grated jaggery. Stir gently — the jaggery will melt immediately from the heat of the rice. The rice will turn a deeper, darker colour as the jaggery melts in.
Add fresh grated coconut: Add the fresh grated coconut to the sweetened rice. Stir gently to distribute evenly through the rice.
Add cardamom: Add cardamom powder. Stir once more.
Add ghee: Add 1 tbsp ghee. Stir gently — the ghee will make the rice look glossy and fragrant.
Taste and adjust: Taste the chousela. It should be sweet from the jaggery, fragrant from the cardamom and coconut, and slightly sticky from the red rice starch. Add more jaggery if not sweet enough.
Turn off heat and rest: Turn off the heat. Keep covered for 5 minutes. During this rest, the flavours blend and the coconut softens slightly in the residual heat.
Serve as a ritual offering or dessert: Serve warm in small portions. Chousela is traditionally served as the first food of the new rice harvest — a small portion is offered to the household deity before the family eats.
Note: Chousela is made specifically for Navakhana — the new rice harvest festival of Chhattisgarh observed in the month of Aghan (November-December) when the freshly harvested red rice is first cooked and offered to the gods. This festival marks the most important point in the agricultural calendar of Chhattisgarh's farming communities. The name chousela refers to the preparation made from the first harvested rice of the season.