Curd Rice

Curd rice or yogurt rice is the most popular rice dish in South India. It's their all time favorite. Curd rice is also called as Yogurt Rice, Dahi Butti, Thayiru Choru and Mosaranna. Curd rice is consumed with a spicy Indian pickle in the side. In southern states of India, curd rice is usually served at the end of heavy lunch or dinner to nullify the spiciness of the other dishes and to help proper digestion.

Ingredients

1. Rice - 1 cup
2. Water - 3 cups
3. Cold Milk - 1.5 cups
4. Curd - 1.5 cup
5. Cream - 2 tbsp
6. Salt - as needed
7. Cilantro - handful (finely chopped)
8. For Tempering
9. Oil - 1 tbsp
10. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
11. Channa Dal - 1 tsp
12. Urad Dal - 1 tsp
13. Dry Red Chillies - 2
14. Green Chilly - 1
15. Ginger - 1/2 "piece (minced)
16. Curry Leaves - 1 spring

Method

1. Cook the rice with 3 cups of water and some salt. We need overcooked rice which gets easily mashed up. (Tip: If you have leftover rice, just reheat it with some additional water.)
2. Once the rice is cooked, mix and mash up part of the rice.
3. Add the milk and keep mixing till all the milk gets absorbed by the rice.
4. Once you add the cold milk, the rice will cool down. If it is still hot, wait for it to become lukewarm before you add the curd. This will prevent the curd from curdling.
5. Add the cream and yogurt and mix well.
6. Heat oil for tempering in a small pan and splutter the mustard seeds.
7. Add the channa dal and urad dal and wait for it to turn reddish brown.
8. Now add the dry red chillies, curry leaves, finely chopped green chillies and finely chopped ginger. Fry for a minute. (You can add some raisins and cashews too.)
9. Add this to the curd rice. Also add the finely chopped coriander leaves and mix together.
10. Curd rice is ready to be served. You can also garnish it with more chopped cilantro or grated carrots or chopped cucumber or fresh fruits like pineapple, pomegranate, grapes, apples