Tangy Lemon Rice

Lemon rice is one of the easiest yet tastiest form of rice I have been introduced to. The best method to have it is while it is hot as you can feel the tangy taste in your taste buds. I enjoyed this dish recently at a small restaurant with my friends over lunch and I was curious to try it by myself. All I did was just recollect the taste and jot down the recipe mentally. On trying the recipe, it turned out to be better than I expected. So shared below is my special version of Tangy Lemon Rice.

Ingredients:

• Half kg rice
• Half a lime
• 3 teaspoons oil
• 1/4 cup peanuts (fried)
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon urad dal
• 12 to 15 curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped green chillies
• 2 dry red chilies (preferably seeds removed)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 generous pinch asafetida (hing)
• Chopped coriander leaves (as per taste)

1. Cook the rice until it’s fluffy and each grain is separate. Let it cool down completely.
2. In a small bowl, squeeze the juice of the lemons. Set aside.
3. In a pan, heat the oil over medium heat.
4. Add the peanuts and fry them until they turn golden brown. Remove and set aside.
5. In the same oil, add the mustard seeds. Let them crackle.
6. Add the urad dal and fry until it turns golden brown.
7. Add the curry leaves, chopped green chilies, and dry red chilies. Saute for a minute.
8. Sprinkle turmeric powder, salt, and a pinch of asafetida into the pan. Mix well.
9. Pour the lemon juice into the pan and stir everything together.
10. Add the cooked rice to the pan and gently mix until the rice is coated evenly with the lemony seasoning.
11. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and the fried peanuts.
12. Serve hot.

Recently, I made this by myself without supervision and realized the kitchen is actually my friend and I need to be less moody about entering and experimenting. This is the exact recipe, and procedure I used and the lemon riced turned out to be so tasty and tangy. My parents enjoyed the rice and appreciated me for it. Go ahead, try it and let me know in the comments how well it worked for you. Cheers!

In my plate above you can see green coconut chutney, that was some left over from breakfast that we tried with the rice. It was a good addition to the mix. I shall share the recipe to the green coconut chutney too, until then you could use the hyperlinked as reference.