‘Lemon Rice’ is a simple yet flavourful one pot rice recipe. You can either use leftover or freshly prepared steamed rice for the recipe. It is a vegan friendly dish which does not use any onion or garlic; and stays good for long hours at room temperature. This quick and scrumptious rice dish is a great for busy weekday. It can be on the table in under 30 minutes and makes a wholesome lunch or dinner. Serve it hot with pickle, chutney, raita or papad.

Recipe is pretty straightforward with deep flavours. The magic component of lemon rice is its tempering; bunch of ingredients ie, – aromatic curry leaves, cumin & mustard seeds along with urad dal, turmeric powder, dry red chilli and asafoetida goes into it. Whole spices and seasoning ingredients when tempered in hot oil; it releases beautiful aroma and flavours. Plain fluffy rice is simply tossed in this tempering and then mixed with generous amount of lemon juice. Rice beautifully marry with all flavours of tempering and lemon juice. I also, like to toss some roasted peanuts which adds wonderful crunch to the dish. Sprinkle lots of chopped green coriander for freshness. A delectable and scrumptious lemon rice is ready in no time.

Ingredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp urad daal

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Few curry leaves

Handful of coriander leaves

Pinch of asafoetida

2-4 tbsp oil

2-3 dry red chilies

1/2 cup of dry peanuts

2 cups of cooked rice (Preferably take any rice other than basmati)

Salt to taste

3-4 tbsp of lemon juice (or adjust as per taste)

Method:

First dry roast peanuts over low heat and keep them aside, ensure peanuts are properly roasted.

Take a kadhai or pan over high heat and add oil into it.

Once oil is hot, turn heat to low and add mustard seeds into it.

Let it sizzle for few seconds and then add cumin seeds along with urad daal and curry leaves.

Let them crackle for another few seconds and add asafoetida along with turmeric powder and dry red chillies.

Add roasted peanuts into the pan.

Stir it all to combine.

Add cooked white rice into the pan and mix everything together. (Tip – this recipe goes well with sona masoor, ponni rice or samba rice; anything but basamati. I have used sona masoori rice for the recipe.)

Cover with lid and simmer on low heat for 8-10 minutes. Do not over cook the rice, else it will turn mushy.

Finally drizzle lemon juice and stir it all to combine well.

Turn off the heat and garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Serve it hot with your favourite accompaniment.

If you enjoyed this recipe then do let me know in the comment section. As always, thanks for stopping by and reading this blog. If you liked my blog, then do check out my other recipes ; also you can follow me on Pinterest || Instagram || Twitter

---

Recipe