Cumin and Cashew Yogurt Rice

This is thayir sadham, a comfort food in most south Indian homes. I find basmati rice, which I love in other recipes, not as appropriate for this dish as a neutral-flavored long grained rice. Instead of ghee, I use Indian sesame oil, omit the cashew nuts, and add a pinch of mustard seeds while roasting the cumin seeds. The asafoetida is a must; it introduces a complex depth to the rice. I add a sprig of curry leaves to the seasoned oil before adding it to the rice.

I appreciate the author notes with the recipes, and this one especially. When I told my family what I made for dinner, they initially looked dubious. When I told them a South Asian culture would call this comfort food, they immediately opened up to it. I’m not South Asian, but it’s easy to see why it’s comforting. We won’t overdo this in our rotation. But I will certainly roll this out on some cold winter day when the pantry is bare and we just want a good bowl of something fast and satisfying.

This is not only Southern Indian comfort food, its also classic end of the meal dish to eat. Couple points: #1. For a soft pudding like consistency its important to cook the rice to be soft with extra water. While its still warm, mash some of the rice grains(1/2 cup). #2. Various fresh veggies are added in moderation, like red onions diced small, carrots shredded, pomegranate seeds. These are added for flavor and visual appeal ;-)

I recommend adding the "traditional" ingredients that are mentioned, as well. My son is allergic to cashews, so we add peanuts instead. Just as delicious.

Yes. You can do anything you like. That is the joy of cooking.

Greek yogurt is a complete protein. Cashews are also an excellent source

Thayir saadham is classic comfort food! Had a bowl almost every single day of my childhood. At its simplest it’s just plain cooked rice mixed with plain yogurt with some salt, and this is it at perhaps its fanciest. An in-between simplified version of this calls for the same cooking preparation, but use of just ooruga (jarred pickle - what North Indians would call aachar) as a topping instead of the crunchy goodness offered here.

Love seeing Thayir Sadham (Yogurt Rice) on NYT cooking! My kids love it and it’s so easy to make. Truly a South Indian, Tamil, comfort food. I grew up eating with long grain rice but prefer with basmati rice -it doesn’t absorb as much of the yogurt so it’s a little thinner. Literally just rice, mixed with yogurt, salt and tempered. I use a bit of oil, then throw in black mustard, dried red Chile or two, urad dhal, curry leaves from Indian store. When mustard pops, add & top with fresh cilantro

Oh, you're lucky! Curry leaves are part of the spices tempered (fried) together. Add them after the cumin, make sure they don't burn, and they become part of the spice mixture added to the yogurt-rice. Enjoy!

I would put 3 or 4 curry leaves (mine are quite small!) in the ghee with the other spices. However, they do not soften. They are more like bay leaves which are not pleasant to eat so I would remove them before pouring the spice mixture over the rice.

Add to the ghee after cashews are browned. Or after cumin seeds. Just to get a little "fried" and add their flavor to the ghee. It is better to not let them brown.

Re: adding meat, I would say that, like any cooking, you can add anything you like. Reading this recipe, I think the key ingredients are the rice and yoghurt, with spices and nuts stir fried and added on top of the rice. But if you wanted to add other meats and veggies or different nuts or spices, you could undoubtedly do so. If you want to stick to an Indian tradition, you might consider lamb or chicken. If you add beef or pork, you'd be really straying. But these are personal choices.

There's protein in yogurt.

The nuts are protein, but I'm sure it would work with chicken or shrimp?

Vixen, you may want to fry them in the ghee with the cashews and the chile to release flavor if you want to add the curry leaves