Recipe- South Indian Special Lemon Rice

Lemon rice popularly known as Chitranna is a South Indian rice recipe. This is a vegan, beginner-friendly, bachelor friendly, no onion no garlic recipe.

Lemon rice is a mildly spiced rice dish made using leftover rice that is tempered with flavourful herbs and nuts.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked rice
1 -2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 tablespoon roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon roasted cashew nuts
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal (split black gram)
1 teaspoon chana dal (split chickpeas)
5-6 curry leaves
1/4th teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (Haldi powder)
2-3 dry red chillies
1-2 Green Chillies finely chopped
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar (purely optional)
2 tablespoons oil

Method

- In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let them crackle, add urad dal (split black gram), chana dal and saute for a minute.

- Now add chopped green chillies, curry leaves, and dry red chilles. Saute for another 15 seconds.

- Add hing (asafoetida), raw peanuts and cashew nuts and roast for a minute or two till peanuts are crispy.

- Make sure to make this tadka / tempering on low flame as we do not want our spices and herbs to burn.

- Add turmeric powder and cooked rice along with salt and sugar (optional) and toss everything with light hands. Make sure not to mix rice vigorously as the rice grain might break easily.

- Check for seasoning. Cover the rice with the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes on low to medium flame. Stir occasionally.

- Once the rice has steamed perfectly & absorbed the flavours of curry leaves, nuts and spices, it’s time to add lemon juice.

- Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix well. (adjust the quantity of lemon juice as per your liking)

- Cover and let the rice cook for another 2 minutes.

- Lemon rice is ready.