Indian Lemon Rice
Easy Indian Lemon Rice (Chitranna) is a popular rice dish from South India. This is a healthy tangy rice dish that is full of flavour. Curry Leaves, Mustard Seeds, Ginger, Turmeric and Lemon are the dominant flavours. Peanuts are usually added to the top of the rice too. The best thing is that it is ready in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Rice
- 4 cups Water Boiled
- 2 tsp Salt or to taste
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- 3 tbsp Red Skinned Peanuts or Cashews
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1.5 tbsp Urad Dal Optional
- 1 sprig Curry Leaves
- 1/2 tbsp Ginger Crushed
- 2 Green Chillies Slit
- 2 Red Chillies Cracked open
- 3/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 3 tbsp Lemon Juice
- Coriander Leaves Chopped
Instructions
- Rinse and soak rice. Add rice, water and salt to a pot. Bring to boil and simmer covered on low for 10 - 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside in a wide plate to cool.
- Heat the oil/ghee. Add nuts and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pot, add more oil if needed then add mustard seeds and urad dal if using. Once the mustard seeds pop, add curry leaves, ginger, slit green chilies and dry red chilli if using. Cook for a minute and then add turmeric, a splash of water and mix well. Cook for 1 minutes.
- Add cooled rice and cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in Lemon Juice.
- Top with lightly fried red skin peanutsand coriander leaves.
Notes
Rice to Water ratio - For the most part, the rice to water ratio in all recipes requires a ration of 1:2. However, this ratio can vary depending on the type of rice used or the cooking method used.
Timing - The most important thing in this recipe, is the cooking of the rice. Taking it too far will result in mushy rice that is clumped together. The rice grains should be separate after being cooked.
Pre soak the rice – If time permits, you should always soak your rice for 20 to 30 minutes before cooking. Soaking the rice removes excess starch, reduces cooking time and makes for a more fluffy overall dish. If you do not have time to soak the rice, then just thoroughly rinse the rice before adding it to the pot. Please note that this will change cooking times and quantity of water needed too. Pre soaked rice grains require less water for cooking as compared to rice grains which are not soaked.
Add the right amount of water – It is really easy to add too much water to rice. So make sure that you do not add too much, especially if you have pre-soaked the rice.
Do not boil the lemon juice - It makes the dish bitter. Remove the pot from heat once you have added lemon juice.
Leftover rice - This dish can be made using leftover rice which will save a lot of time.
Peanuts - The peanuts can be replaced with cashews or left out altogether.
Nutrition
Calories: 464kcalCarbohydrates: 80gProtein: 8gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 1255mgPotassium: 128mgFiber: 3gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 19IUVitamin C: 17mgCalcium: 36mgIron: 1mg
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