Looking to use up leftover rice? Then try this simple Indian lemon rice recipe. It is a tangy, crunchy and flavourful dish that comes together in under 20 minutes. Perfect for busy weekdays or to pack in lunchbox.
This South Indian lemon rice also known as chitranna, nimmakaya pulihora is a staple in many South Indian households. It’s much loved dish prepared for festivals, special occasions and to pack in kid’s lunchbox.
It is one of the most preferred dishes to pack for picnics and long journeys due to its better shelf life than other flavoured rice dishes.
This naturally vegan turmeric lemon rice tastes great on its own or even better when paired with simple side dishes such as spicy baby potato fry, vankaya vepudu, suran fry or with pickle such as ginger pickle, avakaya and papad.
This yellow rice is one such versatile dish that can be prepared either with freshly cooked rice or leftover rice. It is a great way to transform leftover rice into a completely new dish using minimal effort and simple pantry staples.
Ingredients
- Spices: mustard, turmeric, dried red chillies, asafoetida and salt.
- Vegetables and Herbs: Green chillies, ginger, lime, curry leaves, coriander leaves,
- Nuts and Lentils: Peanuts, urad dal and chana dal.
- Rice: I used leftover sona masoori rice. But this recipe works for any variety leftover rice except gelatinous or pudding rice.
- Oil: I used olive oil as it’s my regular cooking oil. However, you can substitute it with any cooking oil you normally use in your kitchen.
Step by Step Instructions
1. Heat oil in a pan over a medium-low flame. Once the oil is hot, add mustard followed by chana dal, urad dal and peanuts. Stir and fry until chana dal turn light brown and release nutty aroma.
2. Add curry leaves, ginger, green and dried red chillies. Sauté for a minute.
3. Now add asafoetida, salt, turmeric and stir.
4. Add cooked rice, squeeze lime juice and mix well.
5. Finally add handful coriander leaves.
6. Mix until rice is well combined.
Serve delicious Indian lemon rice with any accompaniment of your choice.
Variations and Substitutions
Vegetables – add parboiled/steamed vegetables such as carrots, peas, corn makes it more nutritious and is a great way to boost vegetable intake for kids.
Coconut: Freshly grated coconut adds a lovely flavour and taste.
Serving Suggestions
Serve it with a spicy condiment such as green mango chutney,eggplant chutney and papad.
It is an ideal dish to pack for a lunch box along with a simple side dish such as bombay aloo or jeera aloo.
You can pair it with vegetable pakora, mirchi bajji or cabbage pakoda.
Tips and Tricks
Cooking Rice: Cook rice so that each grain remains separate. Once cooked, add a small spoon of oil and spread the rice on a plate or tray to cool completely.
Rice Variety: You can use any variety of rice such as sona masoori, ponni, long grain or basmati rice.
Leftover Rice: This recipe works best with leftover rice, as slightly dried rice allows for more even and easier mixing.
Fresh Rice: Avoid using freshly cooked rice right away, as it turns mushy when mixed. Let the rice cool before using it.
Notes
Adjust lime juice and chillies according to your preferred sourness and spice levels.
Urad dal and chana dal add a lovely nutty aroma and taste, but you can skip them if you don’t have them on hand.
Asafoetida enhances the flavour, but you can skip it if you don’t like it or if it’s unavailable.
More Rice Recipes
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Lemon Rice
Equipment
- 1 Skillet/Steel Pan
- 1 Spoon
Ingredients
1 Cup = 250ml ; 1 tbsp =15ml ; 1 tsp =5ml
- 2 tablespoon oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal/skinned black lentils
- 1 teaspoon chana dal/split chick peas
- 2 tablespoon peanuts/groundnut
- 2 green chillies slit
- 1 dry red chillies broken
- 1 teaspoon ginger finely chopped/grated
- Few curry leaves
- salt as required
- pinch asafoetida/hing (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 cups cooked rice
- Juice from half lime
- handful coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan on medium flame.2 tablespoon oil
- Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and let them crackle.½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- Then add 1 teaspoon urad dal/skinned black lentils, 1 teaspoon chana dal/split chick peas, 2 tablespoon peanuts/groundnut and saute until chana dal turns golden brown.1 teaspoon urad dal/skinned black lentils, 1 teaspoon chana dal/split chick peas, 2 tablespoon peanuts/groundnut
- Add 2 green chillies, 1 dry red chillies, 1 teaspoon ginger, Few curry leaves and sauté for few seconds or until red chillies change colour.2 green chillies, 1 dry red chillies, 1 teaspoon ginger, Few curry leaves
- Now add a pinch of pinch asafoetida/hing (optional), salt.salt, pinch asafoetida/hing (optional)
- Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder mix well and reduce the flame to lowest setting.¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Now add 3 cups cooked rice.3 cups cooked rice
- Squeeze Juice from half lime .Juice from half lime
- Mix well and turn off the flame.
- Add handful coriander leaveshandful coriander leaves
- Mix until well combined.
- Enjoy Lemon Rice with pakoda, poppadums or pickle.
Notes
Nutrition
Welcome to Flavours Treat. I share vegetarian recipes made with wholesome, mostly fresh ingredients. Every recipe has easy-to-follow instructions with process shots (detailed step-wise pictures), a short video and lots of tips to help your cooking journey. Read more
Your lemon rice sounds so tasty and it would be the perfect side dish to a lovely curry!
Thanks Corina. I hope you do try and let me know your feedback.