Refreshing Tangy Lemon Rice

Lemon Rice a very refreshing dish for Spring & Summer, is a simple & quick dish we can prepare. This meal is for one of those days when we really want to make a quick & healthy dish.

Is a perfect dish for this season, easy to prepare, is light on the stomach & nutritious too.

I have shared the recipe from start to finish, since we need rice I have shown how to prepare rice for this dish & then the Lemon Rice recipe. You can also used leftover rice they taste great too.

This dish is really flavourful, the ingredients added here are simple but they make a great combination. The highlight in this dish is the Dill leaves we add towards the end, they have a beautiful Anise-like flavour which complements the lemon juice we add & therefore enhances the flavour of the lemon rice beautifully. You must give it a try.

They go great with salads, veg curry, papad & pickles too. However I do recommend the combination shown in the picture for a really great tasteful experience. The Cucumber, split Mung beans, Coconut salad & Potatoes, Peas Coconut curry is the combination we prepare traditionally in our homes. Do give it a try just to enjoy the beautiful combination of flavours & it is also a very nutritious meal as a whole.

It is a really good lunch box menu. Tastes great as it sits & makes great leftovers too. A recipe that is easy to make for a crowd.

You can also watch my video on

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup – Rice (I used Sona Masoori, wash & soak for atleast 5-10 minutes)
• 3 Tsp – Oil
• ¼ Tsp – Mustard, Jeera/Cumin Seeds
• 2 Pinch – Hing/Asafoetida
• 1 Tsp – Channa Dal
• 1 Tsp – Urad Dal
• 2 – Green Chillies slit into two (this gives moderate heat, for more heat you can add more green chillies)
• 1 Tbsp – Curry Leaves
• 1 – Small Onion
• 1 Tsp – Ginger (grated)
• 2 Tsp – Salt (table salt)
• ½ cup – Frozen Peas (you can also use fresh peas, cooked)
• ½ Tsp – Turmeric powder
• 4 – 4 ½ Tbsp – Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed)
• 1 Heap Tbsp – Coriander/Dhanis Leaves (chopped)
• 1 Heap Tbsp –Dill Leaves/sabakshi soppu (chopped)

Prep work:

• Wash & soak 1 cup rice for atleast 5 to 10 minutes.

Method:

Cook Rice:

• Transfer the rice to a pot & fill room temperature water 3 inches more than the rice in the pot (so the rice cooks well & is not sticky).
• As the water comes to boil & the rice cooks we stir to make sure the rice do not stick to the bottom of the pan. (each rice has a different cooking time).
• We need to cook the rice only 90 % so that we get nice grainy lemon rice.
• After about 12 – 15 minutes we check if the rice is cooked.
• We take a spoon full of rice & pick one grain & check.
• When we mash the rice between our fingers the rice should hold its shape & should be almost soft (the rice should not mash completely).
• When the rice has reached the right consistency (we need to keep in mind that the rice will continue to cook due to the heat).
• We turn off heat & drain the water.
• Once we drain the water, we need to keep it cover for a few minutes so that the steam keeps the rice soft & fluffy.
• Transfer the rice to a wide bowl & let it cool.

Lemon Rice:

• Heat a kadai/wok (non-stick pan/kadai/wok is good for this recipe).
• Add oil (keep heat on low).
• Add mustard, jeera/cumin seeds & hing/asafetida.
• As the mustard crackles, add channa dal, urad dal & sauté (they need to be just light golden brown colour).
• Add curry leaves & sauté.
• Then we add grated ginger, sauté & then add green chillies again sauté.
• We add the chopped onions & sauté.
• We add 1 tsp salt, sauté & cover the wok with a lid till the onions turn soft.
• After a few minutes we open the lid. Once the onions have turned translucent.
• We add peas & sauté (keep the heat on medium).
• We need to sauté until there is no moisture.
• Then we add the cooked rice (plz keep the heat on medium low). If you have leftover plain rice, you can use that instead of freshly cooked rice.
• We add turmeric powder, freshly squeezed lemon juice, coriander leaves & dill leaves (chopped). (Plz keep the heat on low)
• We mix gently until everything is incorporated well (we need to make sure we are not over mixing as the rice may turn mushy).
• We just need to make sure the rice is heated through.
• We add 1 tsp salt mix gently & turn off heat.
• Ready to serve.