Curd Rice
Soft cooked rice mixed with yoghurt and milk, finished with a tempering of mustard seeds, ginger, chilli and curry leaves.
Photograph credit: Curd Rice (image of Curd rice on Wikidata Q2634430) by Sudharshan Shanmugasundaram · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Where This Goes Wrong
Cool the rice before the yoghurt goes in.
Add the milk gradually until the rice is as creamy as you like.
Wait for the mustard seeds to pop before adding the other ingredients.
Serve it at room temperature or cold.
Making Curd Rice
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Mash the warm rice lightly with the back of a spoon and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
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Stir in the yoghurt, milk and salt until creamy.
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Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds, and when they pop add the ginger, chilli and curry leaves for 30 seconds.
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Pour the tempering over the rice and stir through.
Related guide: Choosing rice.
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What's Going On Here
Most home versions come out gluey, or sour, or both, and the fix is to mash the rice while it is warm and to add the yoghurt only after it has cooled. Hot rice splits the yoghurt, and the result is grainy and sharp.
This is a cooling dish, eaten across southern India on hot days and at the end of a meal. It needs rice cooked a little past al dente, so the grains give way when pressed. Mash the rice lightly with the back of a spoon. That is what makes it creamy.
Stir in the yoghurt and a splash of milk. The milk softens the sourness and keeps the rice from drying as it stands.
The tempering goes on at the end. Mustard seeds should pop, the ginger and chilli sizzle briefly and the curry leaves crackle. Pour it over the rice and stir it through. Serve it cold or at room temperature on a hot day. A little pomegranate or grated carrot on top adds colour and crunch.
Storage and Reheating
Best eaten fresh. Keeps in the fridge for 1 day; the rice absorbs the yoghurt, so loosen with milk.
Changing the Recipe
- Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
Good With
- Mango pickle
- Fried papad
- Potato fry
- Sliced cucumber
Curd Rice Nutrition
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: a cooked weight is worked out with raw figures, so those lines run high. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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