Yogurt-Fruit Rice

Wracking my brain has become a common sort of thing each month when Kalyani announces her magic mingle theme. This month was no different and I thought from watermelon pancakes to phirni, only to settle with a traditional dish at the end. Yogurt rice is one of those simple, soothing dishes from south India and especially a pleasing one on a hot, sultry day. Like many families down in south, we too had enjoyed our share of picnics with pulihora (tamarind rice) and daddhojanam (yogurt rice).  

Adding fruits to the yummy yogurt rice / daddhojanam is a common thing in South India. Grape -pomegranate combo is the most common one. And during summers, we are used to eating mangoes at the end of our lunch / dinner with the yogurt rice. Since mangoes are believed to be heat inducing fruits, we always pair it with the yogurt rice. And this time I added watermelon, orange and pineapple for a refreshing dish.Take care that the fruits being used are sweet. 

Ingredients: (Serves 5 - 6)
1 cup rice (I use extra long rice for yogurt rice since the cooked version would be softer than the sona masuri kind.)
Yogurt as needed (Fat free yogurt will do.)
2 cups finely chopped fruit (I used watermelon, pineapple cubes and orange here.)
Minced cilantro to garnish
Salt to taste
For tadka: 1 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp chana dal, 1 tsp urad dal, few curry leaves, 2 red chillies broken into bits

Method:
* Cook the rice in a pressure cooker. Let cool and spread on a wide plate.
* Heat oil in a small pan and add chanadal. When chanadal starts to turn reddish add urad dal and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add curry leaves and chillies. Turn off the stove. Cool and add this tadka to the rice.
* Add yogurt & salt as needed to the rice and combine well. Then add the fruits and mix well.
* Garnish with cilantro.

Note:
1. If you are carrying this rice on a picnic or serving later on a hot summer day, add some milk as well to the mixture. The rice remains sweeter at the time of serving. Especially, the yogurt goes sour quickly during Indian summers.
2. When the yogurt is added to the hot rice / tadka, the yogurt may curdle sometimes. It is better to add yogurt to the cold rice / tadka.

This goes to 
1. Magic Mingle #16 - Watermelon & Rice Combo.



 2. "Seasonal Dishes" theme based week of blogging month.



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