CURD RICE

Curd rice is a very popular South Indian food. It is a very easy rice recipe which can be made by anybody even by a person who has no experience in cooking. No south indian meal is complete without rice and curd. A cup of soup in the beginning and curd rice at the end . This is a practice which is given in the Ayurveda. Curd rice contains very simple ingredients which are readily available in all houses. This tastes good with potato fry (urula kizhangu mezhukkupuratti) or with potato roast.

Try this with any pickle of your (often mango or lime)choice. It will definitely taste nice.

Benefits of curd rice –

• We all know curd (yogurt) is good for body.
• It makes our body cool.
• Apart from that it has high calcium content which helps to build strong bones and teeth.
• It is also known to strengthen our immune system. So curd is very important for our day to day lives.
• Curry leaves are also known to have very high nutritional value.
• This is seasoned with ginger which helps in digestion.

Method of preparing curd rice is very easy. Pressure cook rice for 4 – 5 whistles so that the rice get cooked well. Mash it well. Then add milk, curd, butter, salt and mix well. Finally season with mustard and curry leaves. You can also garnish with items like grated carrots, pomegranate, grapes etc.

Ingredients

• rice 1/2 cup
• water 2 cups
• milk 1/4 cup
• butter 1 teaspoon
• curd 1 cup
• salt to taste
• coriander leaves few

For seasoning

• oil 2 teaspoon
• mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
• urud dal 3/4 teaspoon
• dry red chilli 1
• curry leaves few
• ginger (chopped) 1 inch long piece
• green chilli 1 (finely chopped)
• hing / asafoetida powder / kayam one pinch

For garnishing

• carrots (grated) 1 tablespoon
• grapes (halved) 1 tablespoon
• pomegranate 1 tablespoon

Method

1.  Pressure cook rice with 2 cups of water.  Allow it to cool.  Then mash it nicely with the back of spoon.

2.  Then to the mashed rice, add butter and milk. Mix well.

3.  Next add curd, salt and mix well.  Keep it aside.

4.  Then heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, add hing, dry red chilli,  urud dal, curry leaves, green chillies, crushed ginger and saute well.

5.  Pour this into the rice mixture and garnish with grated carrot and coriander leaves.

8.  Serve it with potato fry or any pickle of your choice.