This Curd Rice (also called yogurt rice) recipe is an easy, comforting restaurant-style South Indian dish made from cooked rice, curd (yogurt), and tempered with Indian spices. It tastes best when served with papad and mango pickle.
What is Curd Rice?
Curd Rice is a popular savory South Indian dish prepared with pre-cooked white rice and curd (yogurt). It is then tempered with oil (or homemade ghee), mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, chilies, and cashews for the flavor.
It is a staple everyday meal in the Southern Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. Also known as Mosaranna (masruanna), Thayir Sadam, Daddojanam, Dahi Bhaat, Dahi Chawal in India.
Curd rice is offered as prasadam in most South Indian temples. It is also the perfect food for infants, toddlers, and adults as it soothes the stomach and aids in digestion.
To make the best Restaurant-style curd rice recipe at home, add fresh or heavy whipping cream at the end, which makes it rich, creamy, and delicious.
For a nutritious twist, you can also prepare curd rice using other grains like quinoa curd rice, curd oats, millet curd rice, or even chia curd rice.
Ingredients
- Rice - Use medium grain like sona masoori rice. You can also use brown rice, quinoa, or millet. If you have leftover cooked rice, then mash a bit with a few drops of water to a soft consistency.
- Curd (Yogurt) - Use full-fat homemade curd for the best, creamy flavor. You can also store-bought yogurt. Choose curd that is fresh and not too sour. You can also use plain Greek yogurt.
- Milk - Use regular boiled whole milk for curd rice. It prevents yogurt rice from turning sour. So don't skip it.
- Cream - Add fresh cream (malai) or heavy whipping cream to get rich, creamy restaurant-style curd rice.
- Tempering - Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, ginger, green & red chilies, and asafoetida (hing).
- Garnish - I used fresh coriander leaves, and pomegranate for garnishing. You can also use green grapes, shredded carrots, cucumbers, or Khara boondi as other toppings.
How to Make Curd Rice (Yogurt Rice)
Cooking Rice:
Firstly, rinse ½ cup of sona masoori rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear (removes extra starch), and drain the remaining water.
In a Traditional Stovetop Pressure Cooker: Pressure cook ½ cup of rice with 1.5 cups of water for 4-5 whistles on medium-low heat. Let the pressure release naturally. The cooked rice should be softer than we cook regularly.
In Instant Pot (Electric Pressure Cooker): Pressure cook ½ cup of rice with 1 ½ cups of water on MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) for 6 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
On Stovetop Pot: Cook ½ cup of rice with 1 ½ cups of water on medium-low heat until cooked, and let it cool a bit.
Prepare the Cooked Rice
When the pressure releases naturally, mash the rice well with the back of a spoon or masher. This helps to make yogurt rice creamy. Make sure no lumps are formed. If you don't mash the rice, it may turn hard when the yogurt is added.
Add ½ cup of pre-boiled and cooled whole milk to the mashed rice. It prevents the curd rice from turning sour when prepared in advance. I highly recommend not to skip adding milk. Mix everything well. You can increase the quantity of milk if required.
Next, cool the rice completely otherwise, whey may get separated when the cold curd is added to the hot rice.
Making Curd Rice
Once the rice becomes lukewarm or comes to room temperature, add 1 cup fresh curd (yogurt) and salt. Mix everything well.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream (malai). Adding cream is optional, but it makes the yogurt rice rich and extra creamy. Again, mix everything well.
Tempering (Tadka) for Curd Rice:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil (or ghee) in a tadka pan. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds. Let them splutter.
Then add 1 teaspoon urad dal, 2 dried red chilies, and saute until the dal turns light brown.
Now add chopped ginger, 1 sliced green chili, 1 stalk of curry leaves, and 1 pinch of hing (asafoetida), and saute for a few seconds. Mix and turn off the flame.
Add 2 tablespoons coriander leaves, and pour the tempering/tadka into the curd rice mixture. Mix everything well. Garnish with pomegranate seeds or grapes and coriander leaves if using.
Serve authentic Yogurt rice, or Thayir Saddam chilled, and enjoy with pickle and papad.
What to Serve with Yogurt Rice?
Serve Curd Rice as a main dish with potato fry, peanut chutney powder, papad, mango pickle, and kachumber salad on the side. You can also serve it as a side dish in a South Indian Thali.
If you are serving kids, then skip adding green chilies. It tastes great when served chilled, and you can pack it for the adults or kids school lunch box too.
Storage Suggestions
- Fridge: You can store Curd Rice (or yogurt rice) in the refrigerator for 1-2 days in an airtight container. Make sure to add a little milk (or water) if it's thick.
- Freezer: I do not recommend freezing the yogurt rice as it will split after thawing.
- Reheating: Curd rice is always eaten at room temperature or cold. It should not be heated or warmed, as the curd can likely break down and curdle.
Expert Tips
Here are a few tips for making the best curd rice recipe
- Slightly overcook the rice: I like to overcook the rice with some extra water. It makes the yogurt rice soft and creamy.
- Don't mix curd with hot rice: Make sure to cool the rice, before you add the curd else, it will curdle.
- Use high-quality curd: use fresh homemade curd for the best results. Avoid using sour curd.
- Use freshly cooked rice: Curd rice always tastes better when made with freshly cooked rice than leftover rice.
- Avoid sourness: Add milk to avoid sourness if you are preparing curd rice in advance.
Variations
- Vegetables: You can also add vegetables like grated carrots, finely chopped raw mango, cucumber, bottle gourd, and fruits like grapes, and pomegranates. It adds a nice taste and texture and increases the dish's nutritional value.
- Vegan Curd Rice: Use almond milk yogurt, coconut milk yogurt, or cashew yogurt for Vegan-friendly curd rice.
- Other Grains: You can replace rice with instant pot brown basmati rice, broken wheat, instant pot quinoa, instant pot millet, poha, vermicelli, couscous, or keto cauliflower rice.
- Cooking Oil: Ghee can be substituted for olive oil in the tempering.
- Cream: If you don't have fresh cream, you can also use sour cream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Curd and yogurt are two very different things. Curd is made by curdling the milk with edible acidic substances such as lemon juice or vinegar, whereas Yogurt is made by fermenting milk using bacteria.
Dahi or curd is often used for yogurt in India, so if any Indian recipe says curd, you can use yogurt instead.
1. Always mix the yogurt in the cooked rice just before serving.
2. Yogurt rice can turn sour if u make it ahead in summer. So, adding milk will prevent it from turning sour for a few hours.
It is a great meal to pack for school or work lunches or when you are on a journey. Ensure to add more milk along with curd to prevent it from turning sour.
Curd rice is best enjoyed cold or at room temperature. When it is heated or warmed, friendly probiotic bacteria present in it are destroyed. Also, curd may likely break down and curdle.
More South Indian Rice Recipes
Restaurant Style Curd Rice Recipe (Thayir Saddam)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup sona masoori rice (or 2 cups cooked rice)
- 1.5 cups water for pressure cooking
- 1 cup curd (yogurt) (about 250 grams)
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2-3 tablespoons cream (fresh or heavy whipping cream), optional
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
For Tempering:
- 1 tablespoon oil (or ghee)
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1 green chili slit length wise
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger (optional)
- 8-10 curry leaves
- a pinch hing (asafetida) skip for gluten-free
Garnish:
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Instructions
Cooking Rice:
- Firstly, rinse the rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear (removes extra starch), and drain the remaining water.
- In a Traditional Stovetop Pressure Cooker: Pressure cook ½ cup of rice with 1.5 cups of water for 4-5 whistles on medium-low heat. Let the pressure release naturally. The cooked rice should be softer than we cook regularly.In Instant Pot (Electric Pressure Cooker): Pressure cook ½ cup of rice with 1 ½ cups of water on MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) for 6 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.On Stovetop Pot: Cook ½ cup of rice with 1 ½ cups of water on medium-low heat until cooked, and let it cool a bit.
Prepare the Cooked Rice
- When the pressure releases naturally, mash the rice well with the back of a spoon or masher. This helps to make curd rice creamy. Make sure no lumps are formed. If you don't mash the rice, it may turn hard when the yogurt is added.
- Add pre-boiled and cooled whole milk to the mashed rice. It prevents the curd rice from turning sour when prepared in advance. I highly recommend not to skip adding milk. Mix everything well. You can increase the quantity of milk if required.
- Next, cool the rice completely otherwise, whey may get separated when the cold curd is added to the hot rice.
Making Curd Rice
- Once the rice becomes lukewarm or comes to room temperature, add fresh curd (yogurt) and salt. Mix everything well.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream (malai). Adding cream is optional, but it makes the curd rice rich and extra creamy. Again mix everything well.
Tempering (Tadka) for Curd Rice:
- Heat coconut oil in a tadka pan. Add mustard seeds, and cumin seeds. Let them splutter.Then add urad dal, dried red chilies, and saute until the dal turns light brown.
- Now add chopped ginger, sliced green chilies, curry leaves, and hing (asafoetida) and saute for a few seconds. Mix and turn off the flame.
- Add coriander leaves, and pour the tempering/tadka into the curd rice mixture. Mix everything well. Garnish with pomegranate seeds or grapes and coriander leaves if using.
- Serve authentic Yogurt rice chilled, and enjoy with pickle and papad.
Notes
Tips to Make the Best Curd Rice
Here are a few tips for making the best curd rice recipe- Slightly overcook the rice: I like to overcook the rice with some extra water. It makes the yogurt rice soft and creamy.
- Don't mix curd with hot rice: Make sure to cool the rice, before you add the curd else, it will curdle.
- Use high-quality curd: use fresh homemade curd for the best results. Avoid using sour curd.
- Use freshly cooked rice: Curd rice always tastes best when made with freshly cooked rice than leftover rice.
- Avoid sourness: Add milk to avoid sourness if you are preparing curd rice in advance.
Variations
- Vegetables: You can also add vegetables like grated carrots, finely chopped raw mango, cucumber, bottle gourd, and fruits like grapes, and pomegranates. It adds a nice taste and texture and increases the nutritional value of the dish.
- Vegan Curd Rice: Use almond milk yogurt, coconut milk yogurt, or cashew yogurt for Vegan-friendly curd rice.
- Other Grains: You can replace rice with brown rice, broken wheat, quinoa, millets, poha, vermicelli, couscous, or keto cauliflower rice.
- Cooking Oil: Ghee can be substituted for olive oil in the tempering.
- Cream: If you don't have fresh cream, you can also use sour cream.
Nutrition
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Veena
Very nice recipe. Can we make ahead of time like a day before for events?
Bhavana Patil
Thank You Veena, I do not recommend doing it a day before because, the curd will release the water and curd rice will not taste good. I recommend doing it few hours ahead, and when serving if the curd rice is very thick, add some milk and adjust the consistency.
Ashwini
Comforting dish, I must say!
CURD RICE
bhavana
Thanks Ashwini 🙂