{how to} Creamy Coconut Rice with Fried Garlic

I have eaten this multiple times over the past week, and am still not sick of it. It works beautifully on its own as a side dish. For an easy lunch I stir in some chickpeas sauteed with curry powder and cumin seeds. For a dinner party, it is great under Asian-marinated meat or chicken skewers.

I am not providing a recipe but more of a “how to” set of instructions, so you can easily adapt it to make as much as you want.

I have recently begun putting fried garlic on almost everything. I love garlic, and it also has some proven health benefits I’m keen to access. But we all know that eating too much raw or roasted garlic can lead to some serious garlic breath! Frying garlic makes it taste rich and mellow while deepening the flavor, but doesn’t seem to cause garlic breath. And the best part is that you can fry garlic in the microwave so it’s super easy and fast, and not messy at all.

This is a great vegan side dish and goes wonderfully with most Thai- or Indian-style entrees. Enjoy!

How to Make Creamy Coconut Rice with Fried Garlic

To make the rice:

• Prepare rice (I prefer long grain) according to package directions, but substitute half of the water for full-fat coconut milk. (Be sure to shake the coconut milk well before measuring. If you use low fat coconut milk, it will still taste good but not be as creamy.)
• Add a few chunks of fresh peeled ginger and a large pinch of salt to the pot before cooking.
• Cook as you normally would, in a pot on the stove or rice cooker.

To make the fried garlic:

• Peel garlic cloves and squeeze them in a garlic press. Put crushed garlic in a shallow bowl and spread it into a thin layer on the bottom.
• Add olive oil to cover the garlic – you will need a fair amount.
• Microwave in 30 second intervals until most of the garlic is light brown. The oil will be boiling, so if you stir the garlic it will cook a little more in the hot oil.
• Let cool and pull fried garlic from the oil. Dry on paper towels.
• As a rule of thumb, use about 2-3 cloves of garlic for every 1/2 cup of dry rice.