Also known as Thayir sadam, curd rice is a South Indian dish made with cooked rice, spices & curd. It is served plain or with pickle, podi and papad.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup rice ((or ¼ cup white rice ¼ cup brown rice or millets))
  • 1½ cup water
  • 1 to 1½ cup curd ((yogurt) (or more))
  • salt (as needed)
  • 2 tablespoon carrot (grated)
  • 2 tablespoon cucumber (grated (or bottle gourd, read notes))
  • 1 teaspoon coriander leaves (finely chopped (optional))
  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds ((jeera) (optional))
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon chana dal ((optional))
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon urad dal ((optional))
  • 1 dried red chilli (broken)
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 1 pinch hing ((asafoetida))
  • ½ teaspoon ginger (minced or crushed)
  • 1 green chili (slit or chopped (optional))
  • 6 to 8 roasted cashews (split or chopped (optional))

Method

Preparation

  1. Add rice to a bowl and rinse it well a few times. Then pour 1½ cups water and ½ teaspoon salt. Keep it in a pressure cooker. Pressure cook rice for 3 whistles until soft. You can also cook the rice directly in the cooker for 2 whistles.
  2. When the pressure releases, remove the rice & mash it lightly. You can also fluff up & use if you do not like mushy rice. If you prefer to use milk, refer my notes below. Cool it completely.
  3. Add curd to cooled rice. Mix well until combined. If you have cooked the rice without salt, then add it now.
  4. Stir in coriander leaves, grated carrots and cucumbers (not gourd) to the curd rice. Taste the curd rice & add more salt if needed.

How to make Curd Rice

  1. Heat oil in a pan. Then add cumin & mustard. When they begin to splutter, add red chilli, chana dal, urad dal & cashews if using. Fry until the dal turns golden.
  2. Add ginger, green chili and curry leaves. When the curry leaves turn crisp, add hing.
  3. Optional to soften the lentils - pour 2 to 3 tablespoons water to cook down the lentils, until slightly soft. If the lentils are hard, add a bit more water & cook until they soften to your liking.
  4. Pour the tempering over the curd rice and mix. South Indian style curd rice is ready.
  5. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.