Lemon Rice is an easy rice preparation which has an amazing taste as it is spiced up with curry leaves, turmeric, whole red chillies and mustard seeds. Fresh Lemon juice makes it slightly tangy which further enhances its taste and gives it a distinctive flavor.
Lemon rice is a traditional South Indian recipe and is quite popular. It is really delicious and can be made quite quickly. You can make this recipe with fresh or leftover rice. It uses minimal spices in flavoring and is a no onion no garlic recipe.
Lemon rice can be best enjoyed with a salad and papadum (spiced thin & crispy lentil flour wafer). You can also enjoy this dish with common vegetables dishes, curd, raita or chutney.
Lemon Rice can be eaten as main course or as a side dish.
Ingredients
- raw rice: 1 cup (or 3 Cups Cooked Rice)
- peanuts: 2 Tbsp
- curry: 15 leaves (Kari Patta)
- green chillies: 2 piece
- rai: 1 tsp (Black Mustard Seeds)
- cumin seeds: 1 tsp (Jeera)
- urad dal: 0.5 tsp (Split & Skinned Black Lentils)
- chana dal: 0.5 tsp (Split Chickpeas)
- whole dried red chillies: 3 piece
- turmeric powder: 0.5 tsp (Haldi)
- asafoetida: 0.15 tsp (Heeng)
- salt: 0.5 tsp
- lemon juice: 2 tsp
- oil: 2 Tbsp
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Wash and rinse 1 cup of Rice with water. Then add them in a pressure cooker along with 1/2 teaspoon Salt, 2 teaspoons Oil and 2 cups of Water. If cooking in an open pot, add 3 cups of Water.
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Cook the rice till you get 2 whistles then wait for it to cool down. Then gently fluff the rice with a fork. You can also use leftover rice.
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Heat 2 tablespoons Oil in a pan and roast the peanuts. Then remove the peanuts and set them aside.
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In the same pan, add 1 teaspoon Black Mustard Seeds (Rai) and let them crackle.
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When the Mustard Seeds start to splutter, add 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds and fry them for a few seconds.
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Add 1/2 teaspoon Urad Dal (split & skinned Black Lentils) and 1/2 teaspoon Chana Dal (split Chickpeas). Fry them till they turn golden brown.
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Add 2-3 whole dried Red Chillies and fry them for a minute.
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Add 10-15 Curry Leaves along with finely chopped Green Chillies to the pan.
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Then add 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder and 1/8 teaspoon Asafoetida (Heeng).
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Add the cooked rice to the pan. Add 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice to the rice.
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Toss the rice gently to coat them in the tempering.
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Now add the roasted Peanuts to the rice and mix everything together.
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Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 5 minutes. Lemon Rice is ready. You can serve it as is or with any Raita or Papad.
