Curd Rice - Indian rice recipe

South Indian Cool Yogurt Rice

This Curd rice recipe is a South Indian rice recipe. It is easy and quick and simple to make. If the cooked rice - plain rice is ready, you can make it in a few minutes. It is a good rice dish for taking for picnic or as a lunch to school or office.

Curd rice has a very important part in the South Indian Cuisine. It is also known in Indian languages as Dahi Chawal(Hindi), Thair sadam(Tamil), Mosarnna(Kannada), Dahi Bhat(Marathi).

curd rice - dahi bhaat - mosaranna - thyir sadam

Generally it is served at the end of the meal. It is a must in most houses. It is a must in the hot summer season too.

It cools your stomach if you have had a hot curry. Have it along with other dishes or by itself for lunch in summer. You will feel satisfied and cool too.

Curd rice can be made as a simple everyday quick way and also as a elaborate party dish with only adding a few more ingredients.

The simplest way is to take some boiled/ steamed rice on your plate, add some plain curd (yogurt), a little salt and a little milk(optional) and mix it.

Make sure the curd is not sour. The more elaborate way is given below.

A piece of lime or mango pickle with curd rice is a perfect way to end the satisfying meal, be it an everyday meal or a festive meal or a party.

How to make curd rice - Yogurt rice

Main ingredients for curd rice - Yogurt rice

Plain cooked white rice

Yogurt - Curd - Dahi

Ingredients for curd rice

Cooked rice - 2 cups
Plain curd - 3/4 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Green chilies - 1 or 2
Ginger paste - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves(Cilantro) - 1 tbsp
chopped Curry leaves - 4-5
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon or to taste

Ingredients For tempering

Oil - 1 tablespoon
Chana (Bengal gram) dal - 1/2 tea spoon
Urad (black gram)dal - 1/2 tea spoon
Rai (Mustard) seeds - 1/4 tsp
Jeera (Cumin) seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch

Step by step instructions for making Curd rice

Preparation

chop/slit chilli
chop coriander leaves
Cool rice

Cooking Method

Heat oil in a pan.
Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds.
When they stop crackling add Bengal gram dal and urad dal.
Fry for 5 seconds but do not let burn.
Add asafetida, chopped chilies, curry leaves. Fry for 5 seconds.
Take off the pan from the stove and let it cool a little.

Final mixing:

Mix cooked rice, curd, milk, salt, chopped coriander leaves.
Add the seasoning. Mix well

Curd-rice is ready. Serve it as a meal by itself or with lime pickle or mango pickle.

Tips:

Use fresh, naturally sweet curd - yogurt.
You may also add some fresh cream to it to make it yummy, if your diet permits that.
Mix Curd Rice just before serving. Once the curd-rice is mixed it should be eaten within half an hour or so or it can get sour, so if you are not planning to eat it immediately, put it in the fridge.
Rice also becomes thick some time after mixing. So a little milk may be added again at the time of serving.
Some chopped onion, cucumber, chopped grapes, pomegranate seeds are also added to curd rice. You can add any one of these or all of these. It also prevents the curd-rice from becoming thick.

If you are taking this yogurt rice dish for a picnic, you can do the following to get the fresh taste even though you will be eating it after a few hours.

Mix all the ingredients except curd. You can add a little curd to the milk and carry it separately in a bottle.
Just before serving, add this milk and curd mixture to the rice mix. It will taste wonderful.
It is better to take more milk mixed with a spoonful of curd with you as it will set fully into curd within a couple of hours in hot weather. So by the time you are ready for your picnic lunch, the curd will be ready for you.
It may take longer time in the cold weather so adjust the quantity of curd added to the milk accordingly.