Today's special in 'Lemon n spice' is the simple South Indian delicacy Curd rice.
I need to make a confession before i go ahead, I HATED CURD RICE. Now that is out of the way let me explain why... it was all because of the college hostel cafeteria. It was a runny, flavor less and out right example of waste of good ingredients. It made me believe that the chef was too lazy to make anything that day. Fast forward 5 years, my perception of curd rice changed once I ate from Adayar Anandha Bhavan in Banglore, it became one of my favorite dishes.
Curd rice can be prepared in different ways, by adding grated carrot / cucumber / pomegranates / with or without milk etc. I love this method and my family loves it. You can serve curd rice with potato podimas / pappad / pickles.
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| Adayar Anandha Bhavan Style Curd rice |
Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Ingredients for Curd Rice :
Raw Rice : 1 cup ( i used sona masoori rice)
Thick curd / Greek yogurt : 2cups to 2 1/2 cups ( Thick curd is a must, otherwise curd rice will be watery)
Milk : 1/2 cup ,Boiled and cooled (optional, Refer Notes *)
Milk : 1/2 cup ,Boiled and cooled (optional, Refer Notes *)
Carrot : 1, grated or chopped finely
Coriander leaves : 2 springs, chopped finely
Salt
To temper :
Sesame oil / vegetable oil : 1tbsp
Mustard seeds / Kaduku : 2 tsp
Urad dal / Uzhunnuparippu: 1 1/2 tsp
Green chilli : 2 chopped finely
Ginger : 1 1/2tsp, finely chopped
Hing/ asafoetida / Kaayam podi : a generous pinch
Curry leaves : 2 springs
How to make Anandha Bhavan style Curd rice / Thayir sadam:
1. Rinse the rice and pressure cook with 3 cups of water and salt. Once pressure releases, fluff up the rice and allow to cool a bit (warm to the touch). Now mash the rice along with curd. combine well and make it a creamy thick mixture.
2. Heat oil in a tadka pan and splutter the mustard seeds. Now add the remaining ingredients under "To Temper " in the same order. Add the tampering to the curd rice mixture. Add grated carrot, and coriander leaves. Adjust the salt and give a quick stir.
3. Delicious Curd rice is ready to serve. Serve hot / cold with pappad and pickle.
Notes *
- Make sure to cool down the rice before you add curd.
- Milk is added to avoid sourness when curd rice is prepared in advance. So if you are making the curd rice for lunch box, add the boiled and cooled milk along with yogurt in Step 1. As i cook and serve immediately , i don't add milk in my curd rice.
Enjoy!!!
Lena