In India, curd means a liquid, tart, unsweetened yogurt. Curd rice or yoghurt rice is a popular specialty dish in the southern states of India such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu it is one of the foods offered to God in many Shiva and Sri Vaishnavite temples, which is then distributed as “prasadam” (blessed food) to devotees. This prasad (blessed food) goes by different names, such as dadhiannam or dadyodanam. It is mostly prepared simply by mixing boiled rice and yogurt but to make it more delicious you can add different spices and fruits and nuts. This is one of the best ways to use up leftover rice. In South India it is always on the main menu at lunch and dinner and it is standard to eat curd rice after lunch and dinner which also helps to digest the spicy main course. On hot summer days it acts as a body cooler. No South Indian meal is complete without curd rice. The South Indian restaurant serves cottage cheese rice under different names dadhojanam (in Telegu), bhagla bhat or mainly Mosaranna. I am sure you will enjoy this curd rice recipe.
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
Serves 2
Ingredients
200 gms of cooked basmati or any rice
150 gms hanging curd or Greek yogurt
2 chopped green peppers
1 teaspoon minced ginger
8 to 10 curry leaves
1 teaspoon uradal dal
1 teaspoon mustard seed
¼ teaspoon of meethi seeds
1 whole red chili
hand full of grapes
handful of cashew
handful of pomegranate seed
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
Salt to taste
Cooking methods
Take a pan and heat the oil then add the mustard seed, meethi seed, urad dal and whole red chilli when the mustard seed starts to pop then add the curry leaves, chopped green chilli, minced ginger and cashew. fry them. Now turn off the heat and mix the cooked rice and salt with it. Let it cool down. Now in a large bowl take the spiced rice and pomegranate seeds, raisins and hanging curd. Mix well with soft hands. If the mixture seems too tight, you can add 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix well and serve cold. Curd rice goes great with a simple South Indian style lemon or mango pickle, uppu menasinakayi (fried salted chillies), raw onion or daal, or you can even try it with a South Indian style meat dish. India.
