Curd Rice (Indian Rice with Yogurt) Recipe

Updated April 02, 2025

This stuff is pure comfort food, the Indian macaroni and cheese (well, if your spicy-happy grandmother made macaroni and cheese). Flash-fried curd chiles serve as a garnish here, to be broken into bits with a spoon and mixed with the tangy, mild rice to give some crunch and salty heat.

Though often mixed with fried spices, curd rice at its most simple is nothing but a mixture of cooked rice and yogurt, and some people won't have it any other way. As with all comfort food, it's highly personal, so this is just the way I do it. Feel free to make this all your own. My curd rice is dry with a relatively high rice to yogurt ratio, but it has generous amounts of mustard seed, cumin, and asafoetida. I added pomegranate seeds for texture and flavor contrast, but you can skip it if you're not feeling up to the task peeling a pomegranate, or just use dried seeds instead. As none of these spices need to be ground and nothing needs to be chopped, you're almost done by the time the rice is cooked.

Spice Hunting: Curd Chiles

Recipe Details

Curd Rice (Indian Rice with Yogurt) Recipe

Cook 30 mins

Total 30 mins

Serves 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cups long grain rice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt
Vegetable oil
10 Curd Chiles
1 tablespoon whole mustard seed
1 teaspoon whole cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida (start with 1/4 teaspoon if you're less of a fan)
8 curry leaves
2 cups thick strained yogurt, preferably at room temperature
1 cup pomegranate seeds, fresh or dried
Cilantro, for garnish

Directions

In large saucepan or rice cooker, combine rice, butter, 3 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
While rice is cooking, heat oil over high heat in slope-sided pan (if you have a wok, use it; if not, use small saucepan), just enough to coat bottom by 1/2 inch. When oil shimmers, add curd chiles. Toss continually until golden brown, 15-30 seconds. Set aside to drain.
Discard all but two tablespoons oil and return to heat. When oil shimmers, add mustard seeds and stir to coat in oil. When seeds begin to pop, add asafoetida, cumin, and curry leaves. Fry until aromatic, about 10 seconds, then remove from heat.
If using wok, add cooked rice to spice oil and mix to combine. Otherwise pour and mix spice oil into pot of cooked rice. Stir in yogurt and add salt to taste. Serve in small bowls with pomegranate seeds, cilantro sprigs, and a couple curd chiles to garnish.

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Spice Hunting: Curd Chiles

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
231	Calories
12g	Fat
26g	Carbs
7g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories	231
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g	16%
Saturated Fat 6g	30%
Cholesterol 25mg	8%
Sodium 155mg	7%
Total Carbohydrate 26g	9%
Dietary Fiber 3g	9%
Total Sugars 10g
Protein 7g
Vitamin C 22mg	111%
Calcium 174mg	13%
Iron 1mg	7%
Potassium 362mg	8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.