Curd Rice
Overcooked rice mashed with milk, cooled, then stirred through thick curd and tempered. The last thing eaten in a South Indian meal.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- 25m
- Waiting
- 30m
- Total
- 1h 5m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 1 cup | Cook the rice soft, well past what you would want beside a curry 20m Extra water, extra time. The grains should break under a spoon. | Mash the warm rice with milk, cool to room temperature, then fold in the curd 10m Cool first. Curd stirred into hot rice splits and turns watery within the hour. | Pour the tempering over and leave 30 minutes before eating 30m The half hour is when it stops being rice in yoghurt and becomes one thing. | |
| 3 cups | ||||
| 1/2 cup | ||||
| 1 1/2 cups | ||||
| 1 1/4 tsp | ||||
| 2 tbsp | Crackle the mustard seeds, then add the dal, chillies and ginger 4m Fry the urad dal until it is properly gold. It should crunch in the finished bowl. | |||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 2 tsp | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 2cm piece | ||||
| 12 | ||||
| a pinch | ||||
| a small handful | ||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||
-
Cook the rice soft, well past what you would want beside a curry
20m- short-grain rice 1 cup
- water 3 cups
Extra water, extra time. The grains should break under a spoon.
-
Mash the warm rice with milk, cool to room temperature, then fold in the curd
10m- from 1 Cook the rice soft, well past what you would want beside a curry
- whole milk 1/2 cup
- thick yoghurt 1 1/2 cups
- salt 1 1/4 tsp
Cool first. Curd stirred into hot rice splits and turns watery within the hour.
-
Crackle the mustard seeds, then add the dal, chillies and ginger
4m- neutral oil 2 tbsp
- mustard seeds 1 tsp
- urad dal 2 tsp
- dried red chilli 1
- green chillies 2
- ginger 2cm piece
- curry leaves 12
- asafoetida a pinch
Fry the urad dal until it is properly gold. It should crunch in the finished bowl.
-
Pour the tempering over and leave 30 minutes before eating
30m- from 2 Mash the warm rice with milk, cool to room temperature, then fold in the curd
- from 3 Crackle the mustard seeds, then add the dal, chillies and ginger
- coriander leaves a small handful
- pomegranate seeds (optional) 2 tbsp
The half hour is when it stops being rice in yoghurt and becomes one thing.
Why milk goes in as well as curd
Curd rice thickens relentlessly. Rice starch keeps absorbing liquid as it cools, and lactic acid bacteria in the yoghurt carry on working, so a bowl that was perfect at noon is a solid block by evening. Milk added to the hot rice is a buffer — it gets absorbed as the grains cool and holds the mixture loose for hours, and its sweetness rounds off the acidity. Mashing while hot matters too, because gelatinised starch is pliable warm and sets rigid cold.
Notes
- Use mild curd. Sourness intensifies as it stands, so what tastes balanced now will be sharp in three hours.
- Loosen with cold milk before serving if it has tightened. Water thins the flavour as well as the texture.
- It should be a little looser than seems right when you put it aside.