Explore South Indian cuisine with this easy recipe of lemon rice to try at home

Lemon rice is an authentic traditional delicacy of South Indian cuisine. It is a simple preparation of rice with an added flavour of lemon, peanuts, and cashew nuts. Lemon rice is traditionally served with pappadums or a vegetable salad. However, in many parts of South India, it is also served with raita or curd. It is an easy-to-cook meal and a perfect at any time of the day. Here is an easy recipe for lemon rice. 

• 1 cup raw rice (or 3 cups cooked rice)
• 2 tablespoon peanuts
• 10-15 Curry Leaves (Kari Patta)
• 2 Green Chillies
• 1 teaspoon Rai (Black Mustard Seeds)
• 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds (Jeera)
• 1/2 teaspoon Urad Dal (Split & Skinned Black Lentils)
• 1/2 teaspoon Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas)
• 2-3 whole Dried Red Chillies
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
• 1/8 teaspoon Asafoetida (Heeng)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 2 tablespoons oil

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Preparation of lemon rice

• Wash and rinse 1 cup of rice with water. Then add them in a pressure cooker along with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons oil and 2 cups of water. Cook the rice till you get 2 whistles then cool it down. Then gently fluff the rice with a fork.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and roast the peanuts. In the same pan, add 1 teaspoon Black Mustard Seeds (Rai) and let them crackle.
• When the Mustard Seeds start to splutter, add 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds and fry them for a few seconds. Add 1/2 teaspoon urad dal (split & skinned Black Lentils) and 1/2 teaspoon chana dal (split chickpeas). Fry them till they turn golden brown.

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• Add 2-3 whole dried red chillies and fry them for a minute. Add 10-15 curry leaves along with finely chopped green chillies to the pan. Then add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida.
• Add the cooked rice to the pan. Add 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the rice. Toss the rice gently to coat them in the tempering.
• Now add the roasted peanuts to the rice and mix everything together. Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 5 minutes. Lemon rice is ready. You can serve it as is or with any raita or papad.

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