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1
Simmer kidney beans in 4 cups water in a 5-quart saucepan, covered, until beans are almost tender, about 1 1/4 hours (do not drain).
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2
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400F.
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3
Pierce 2 softest eyes of coconut with a metal skewer or small screwdriver and drain liquid.
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4
Bake coconut on middle of oven 15 minutes.
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5
With a hammer or back of a heavy cleaver, break shell and remove flesh, levering it out carefully with screwdriver or point of a strong knife.
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6
Remove brown membrane with a sharp paring knife or vegetable peeler, then cut coconut into small pieces.
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7
Puree coconut with hot water in a blender and transfer to a bowl (use caution when blending hot liquids).
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8
Cool puree to lukewarm and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids.
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9
Working over same bowl, squeeze small handfulls of solids to extract as much additional milk as possible.
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10
Add water if necessary to total 2 cups liquid.
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11
Stir coconut milk into almost-tender beans along with salt, scallions, thyme, and chile, then simmer, covered, 15 minutes.
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12
Add 5 cups water and bring to a boil.
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13
Stir in rice and return to a boil, then cover.
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14
Reduce heat to low and cook until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
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15
Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
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16
Discard scallions, thyme, and chile.
