Curd Rice Recipe (Thayir Saddam)

curd rice (thayir saddam) served in a wooden bowl with the tempering on the top

5 from 6 votes

Curd rice, also called yogurt rice is an easy, comforting and healthy south India dish made with cooked rice curd (yogurt) and tempered with indian spices

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine South Indian

Keyword curd rice, easy, healthy, under 30 minutes, yogurt recipes, yogurt rice

Diet Gluten-Free, Vegetarian

Method Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker, Stovetop

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings

Calories 428kcal

Author Bhavana Patil

Equipment

Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

½ cup white raw rice (or 2 cups cooked rice)
1.5 cups water for pressure cooking
1 cup curd (yogurt) (about 250 grams)
½ cup 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 chilli
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 tablespoon coriander leaves finely chopped
2 tablespoon 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, or Thayir Saddam 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.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition