Curd Rice or Yoghurt rice is a very simple dish eaten at the end of a meal. After a fiery hot meal with a medley of spices, curd rice cools the system. You have to eat it to experience the feeling. It is comfort food for most south Indians. In the summer months, this is the usually packed for school lunches or picnics.

Usually, at the end of the meal rice is mixed with some yoghurt and salt right on the plate and eaten. It can be as simple as that or made more ‘fancy’ by tempering it with mustard seeds and red chillies or adding pomegranate or grapes. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can add any or all of the ingredients, of course, rice, yoghurt and salt is a must. This recipe is written especially for my friend’s son Rishaad who loves his ‘curd rice’ and for his mom to make it for him.

Mango ginger is from the ginger family but is milder and tastes of raw mango. I have included a recipe for a simple pickle. My friend Mrudul gave me this fresh mango ginger from her garden and I could not resist making this pickle and have begun eating it even though it needs to sit for a few days.

Yoghurt (Curd) Rice

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups plain yoghurt

salt to taste

1 tsp coriander leaves (cilantro)

2 tbsp pomegranate

Tempering:

2 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1-2 red chillies

1 tsp curry leaves

1 tsp urad dal

1 tsp channa dal

1 pinch asafoetida

Method

Mix rice, yoghurt and salt together.

Heat oil, add the ingredients for tempering when oil is hot.

When the mustard starts to splutter, add the mixture to the rice and mix. Add coriander leaves and pomegranate and serve.

Tip: If the yoghurt is very sour add some water or milk and mix to reduce the sourness.

Recipe for Mangai Inji 

Ingredients

1 cup Mango ginger

2 green chillies

2 limes

salt to taste

Method

Scrape skin off ginger, wash and pat dry

Slice or cut chillies into small pieces

Use the juice of 2 limes and mix all of the above

Store in a dry sterilized glass bottle. Let it sit for a day or two to absorb all the flavours of the lime, chillies and salt. (If you can resist)

Store in a cool place for up to 2 weeks.