Curd Rice / Perugannam / Dhadhojanam

Without curd rice at the end, any good meal is not complete totally..In South India, curd rice is mostly eaten at the end in any regular meals or in any special occasion thalis. With a side of a spicy pickle, it concludes the meal with greater satisfaction. Taste of the curd rice totally depends on the curd culture, sourness and the rice texture. To me, preparing curd rice is a special art as I have tasted the best curd rice as well as the worst curd rice in my life. I am just writing down the method I follow for making our traditional Dadhojanam ( curd rice ).

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 1 Cup

Salt - To Taste

Pomegranate Seeds - 2 tbsp

Coriander Leaves - To Garnish

Fresh Curd - 2 -3 cups.

Milk - As required. ( Optional ).

Grated Ginger - 2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil - 3 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Mina Pappu - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 2

Green Chillies - 2 Small

Curry Leaves - 4 or 5

Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Method

• Cook the rice in the pressure cooker for 4-5 whistles. Let the cooked rice be well cooked but not pasty. Open the rice vessel after its cooked and transfer the rice into a big mixing bowl or vessel.
• Finish the tempering by adding all the ingredients and pour them over the cooked rice.
• Add grated ginger, little coriander leaves, salt into the mixing bowl. Mix everything nicely and slightly mash the rice while mixing. Now the rice would be loaded with the flavours of Hing, Ginger and other ingredients.
• Now slowly add the fresh curd into the mixing bowl and and mix it thoroughly with the rice. Keep adding curd to the rice till you get the desired consistency.
• Add little milk to the curd rice if the curd is little sour. Garnish with remaining coriander leaves and now the curd rice is ready with lots of freshness, flavour and taste.

Tips

• Don't cook the rice like how we make for Puliogare. The rice should be well cooked and little mashy.
• Try to add fresh curd only if you are going to eat the curd rice immediately. If you are making it for lunch, then try to use as much luke warm milk while mixing and add 2 tbsp of curd only and keep it. During lunch, it will be all set and the curd rice wont be sour at all. Of course, little sourness would give a good punch to the curd rice.

Variations

• You can add grated carrots, finely cut onions, cucumbers into the curd rice if you wish.
• Also, you can add tiny pieces of cashew nuts as well.

Milagu Kuzhambu / Black Pepper Kuzhambu / Pathiya Kuzhambu

Milagu Kuzhambu / Black Pepper Kuzhambu / Pathiya Kuzhambu

Milagu Kuzhambu / Black Pepper Gravy is a spicy gravy made by boiling the tamarind extract with lots of freshly ground spices in it. Its generally eaten with hot rice and ghee. An excellent choice during rainy days and its given to ladies after delivery as  Pathiya Kuzhambu. Its ideal to make this Kuzhambu after festivals as we would have eaten lots of high calorie food during festivals. You can either prepare this without any additions or can add little small onions or garlic pods or some sliced brinjals into the Pepper Gravy. I made it with small onions this time and the aroma and flavour is unique. Addition of Gingelly Oil ( Nalla Yennai ) to this Kuzhambu definitely enhances its taste.

 

Ingredients
Tamarind Extract - 5 to 6 Cups
Small Onion - Between 12 and 15 peeled.
Salt - To Taste
Jaggery - 1 small pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Gingelly Oil / Nalla Yennai -  2 tbsp
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash
Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

For Grinding

Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Channa Dal  / Kadalai Paruppu - 2 tsp
Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu - 3 tsp
Black Peppercorns - 3 tbsp
Dry Red Chillies - 5 Big ones

Procedure  

• Soak the tamarind in warm water for half an hour and extract its juice completely. Prepare an extract of around 5-6 cups and keep it ready.
• In the kadai, dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under Grinding till you get a nice aroma. Then make a spicy grounded powder and keep it ready.
• In the same kadai / cooking pan, add oil first. When its heated, add Hing / Asafoetida and mustard seeds. When it starts sputtering, add small onions, curry leaves  in succession. Fry them for 2-3 minutes.
• Finally add the tamarind extract and the grounded powder, salt, jaggery into the cooking pan. Mix them well and allow them to reduce in quantity.
• When the quantity gets reduced to nearing half, add the Gingelly oil and allow them to cook for another 3-4 minutes.
• Switch off the flame and serve this with hot white rice and little ghee. After its cooled completely, it can be stored in a container and it would stay for at least 10 days.