Curd Rice

Every south Indian lunch and dinner ends with curd rice. Curd rice is just mixing butter milk or curds/yogurts to the cooked rice. But adding a little seasoning to it makes it more tasty and special. Curd rice and pickle is the best combo one can have on a hot summer afternoon lunch. It makes a good picnic lunch too. I am sending this curd rice to Fun 'n' Sun event hosted by Simple Indian Food.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 1 cup

Butter milk or Yogurt/Curds - 1 cup

Milk - half cup

salt - as required

Curry leaves

Asafoetida powder - 2 pinches

for seasoning:

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds - half teaspoon

Urud Dal - half teaspoon

Green chillis - 2 - slit vertically

Method:

Add the salt to the cooked rice and mash the rice really well.

Heat oil and add the mustard seeds, when it pops, add the urud dal and green chilli. When the dal turns golden brown add the seasoning to the rice.

Add curry leaves and asafoetida powder to the rice and mix really well.

Add milk and stir well.

Now add the butter milk or curds or yogurt and mix well.

Serve with pickle of your choice.

I have listed below, the many ways of preparing curd rice.

1. Simple Curd rice: Just mix butter milk to the cooked rice.

2. Curd rice with green chilli seasoning. (The method that I have described above)

3. Bagalabhath: Mix a tablespoon of butter to the steaming hot white rice. Mix it until the butter melts completely. Add salt and mix well. Then, add a cup of milk and mix well. Then, half cup thick curds and mix well. This is a simple way of preparing delicious bagalabhath. Curry leaves can be added to this rice.

3. Curd rice with fruits: To the curd rice mentioned in '1' or '2', mix in finely diced apples, pomogranate seeds (washed), seed less small green grapes.

4. Curd rice with Vegetables: To the curd rice mentioned in '1' or '2', mix in grated carrot and grated or finely diced cucumber. Add finely chopped coriander leaves.

5. Mor Molaga Thair sadam: To the curd rice mentioned in '1' or '2', mix in deep fried curshed mor molaga

6. Special Curd Rice: Cook one cup rice with milk (if using 3 cups of water for making regular rice, add 2 cups water and 1 cup milk). Then, do the seasoning mentioned in the above recipe. Mix in half a cup curd and leave it aside for 4 hrs and serve.

7. Other varieites: roasted broken cashews can be added to any variety of curd rice listed above. You can come up with more creative ways of preparing curd rice.

Enjoy the delicious curd rice. Keep cool this summer.