This is the best South Indian curd rice recipe, made countless times by many readers and my friends and family. At it’s simplest, curd rice is just yogurt and rice together, with a bit of tempering. It is also called thayir sadam in Tamil. If there was one recipe that I have tweaked repeatedly, then it’s this. I have been making it for years, collecting snippets of tricks and tips from everyone I meet. And this is the final, the best version of curd rice I have ever made. At my engagement in Tamil Nadu about 14 years back, we were served this curd rice that we have since been obsessing over. It was in a hotel called Benz Park, and we have been unable to get it out of our minds. We make all our friends and family celebrate their milestones there so we can have curd rice. This recipe is the closest I have gotten to that Chennai curd rice. I want to thank all my friends for introducing me to their moms and grandmas so I could pick their brains about curd rice. We love eating curd rice and some south Indian style fried chicken or spicy potatoes, crispy fish fry ,papad(pappadam), and lime or citrus pickle.
Ingredients
Here is what you need to make the curd rice
Softly cooked rice Curd Milk Coriander/ cilantro leaves Oil Black mustard seeds Cumin seeds Dried red chilies Green chilies Ginger
Rice
You want to use rice that becomes soft on cooking. So any short grain rice- Indian rice like jeera samba, sona masoori & raw rice will work. Jasmine rice or any Asian rice is a good substitute. In a pinch, you can use overcooked basmati rice. You can also make this with leftover rice. Though, you will have to heat the leftover rice to be able to mash it. I sometimes refresh cold rice in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. It becomes as good as new!
Curd/Yogurt
You can use homemade curd or store-bought yogurt to make this. You don’t want a very ripe, sour curd but a milder, not too tart version. If you live in a hotter climate or are making this in summer, reduce the amount of curd and use more milk instead. That way, even if the curd rice is on the counter or in the lunch box, it will stay mild and not tart. Runny curd will make a runny curd rice. Never mix yogurt with hot rice, it will spilt.
How to Make Curd Rice
Step 1: Cooking the Rice
To make the most comforting, softest rice, you have to over cook it. Whatever rice you are using, increase the water by one more unit. Example- If regularly, you use 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water, to make curd rice, use 1 cup of rice and 3 cups of water. You can use pressure cooker to cook the rice or cook it in a pot. Here is how to make Sona Masoori Rice in Instant Pot.If cooking in a pot, use a heavy-bottomed pot with a lid. Cover the rice till the water starts to boil and the froth steams out. Leave the lid open and let the rice cook to a soft consistency.
Step 2: Prepare the Cooked Rice
As soon as the rice is cooked and is still hot, use a heavy ladle or masher to mash it.If you wait till the rice is cold to mash, it will not give you the right consistency. If you are using leftover rice to make curd rice, you might have a bit of trouble mashing it. You can sprinkle the rice with water and microwave it covered till it’s steaming. And then mash the rice. Transfer it to a large flattish bowl so the rice can cool while you get all other ingredients in order.
Step 3:Mix in the Curd & Milk
Once the rice has cooled down slightly, add the milk and curd. You can stick the cooked rice under the fan or in the freezer to get the temperature down a bit.The reason we have to wait for the rice to cool a bit is , adding curd to steaming hot rice might split it.
Step 4: Temper
And finally, the flavor booster - Tempering. This is a classic Indian cooking technique of heating fat/oil, adding spices, herbs, and condiments, and adding them to the dish. A few rules of tempering
The oil should be super hot or smoking Prep all the ingredients for tempering before you heat the oil Be very very carefull of things spluttering out.
In this case, we will either use a neutral oil(or coconut oil), heat it till it’s smoking. Switch off the heat. Add the grated/pounded ginger, green chilies, mustard, curry leaves and cumin. You want all the ingredients sizzling in the oil.
Step 5: Extras
If you want to take it a few notches above, you can add these extras. Fruits - Pomegranate arils, pineapple bits & grapes. My mom adds sliced kiwis,cut mangoes and other seasonal fruits too. Vegetables - Add sliced green capsicum, diced cucumber, or grated Beetroot for that gorgeous pink hue. Nuts - Sautéed, fried cashews or raisins taste great in curd rice. Second Temper - Once you have made the curd rice, you can reserve the tadka to top it up while serving or make a second tadka with the same ingredients.
Notes
Rice - Over Cook the rice. Mash it when it’s still hot. After that, Cool it a little before adding milk and curd. Salt - Curd rice ends up over-salted very quickly. So be mind full of the salt. Coriander Leaves waft into the curd rice and release all the good flavor when given a bit of steeping time. You can mix it with the curd and milk before you start tempering. Green Chili- You can control the heat level of the chili by cutting it in a specific way - Pierced Chili < Slit Chili < Chopped chili < Pounded Chili.
Serving Curd Rice
Here is curd rice serving rules - Okay, Some of these are more guidelines than the absolute rule, but you get it.(Right?) Curd rice can be kept outside for 6-7 hours without spoiling, especially in cold places. In hotter places like Chennai, people add more milk than curd to the curd rice.
What to eat with Curd Rice
Curd rice is heaven when served with any of the following
Potato Fry Papads- Appalams, pappadams or fryams or Chips Fried Curd Chili - A south Indian delicacy where the red chili is dipped in curd, sun-dried, and then deep fried to crisp perfection. Pickle- Citrus or South Indian lime pickle, mango pickle. Fried Fish or chicken 65, fried shrimp , kerala chicken roast , chicken ghee roast.
Storage & Leftovers
Fridge - You can keep curd rice which has been made with fresh curd for 2-3 days or till the expiry of the curd. It does tend to become drier in the refrigerator. To serve- Just add a few tablespoons of hot milk to the refrigerated curd rice. Mix it in and serve cold. To pack curd rice for the lunch box, swap the milk and curd measurements in hot weather. That way, the milk ferments into curd while being mixed with rice. This is an old trick mom in Chennai used to pack lunchboxes that must be eaten in 5-6 hours. If you use this recipe to make curd rice, do leave me a comment and a rating.I would love to hear from you!
Different Types of Curd Rice
So you can make curd rice in a zillion ways but here are some classics
Capsicum Curd Rice - Add chopped up capsicum in the tempering and mix with the curd rice. Carrot Curd Rice - Add grated carrot to the rice and Curd. Curd Rice with Pomegranate - After tempering, add fresh pomegranate arris on top of the curd rice as a garnish. Special Curd Rice -Top the curd rice with fruits like pomegranate, kiwi or sweet berries and dry fruits like you would to a smoothie bowl.
Frequently asked Questions
