AuthorChandniIf you're looking for a quick and simple yet wholesome meal option, lemon rice is a great option.
Chitranna or Lemon Rice is an extremely simple rice dish that is often eaten for breakfast or a light lunch. There are multiple recipe variations of this dish. This is one that I love and prepare quite often when I’m hungry but don’t want to eat something too heavy.
When I started making lemon rice, I’d often end up with a dry rice that wasn’t too much fun to eat. Then I spoke with a friend who cooks it really well and she gave me an important tip that changed my lemon rice game forever: don’t skimp on the oil. The lemon juice will cut through the oiliness anyway, and this dish needs all the extra moisture it can get.
Lemon Rice Recipe Card
To make Lemon Rice, first cook the rice until just cooked through. Overcooked, mushy rice won’t taste very good. If you have leftover rice, warm it up a bit.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan and splutter 1 tsp mustard seeds. Once they splutter, turn down the heat and add 1 tsp urad dal, 1 tsp chana dal, ½ tsp hing, 1 inch chopped ginger, 2 chopped green chillies, and 10 curry leaves. Let this mixture fry well till the curry leaves crisp up.
Toss in the chopped onion and fry it till it turns translucent. It shouldn’t turn golden brown, just translucent will do. Add salt to taste and 1 tsp haldi and turn off the heat. Let the haldi cook a bit in the residual heat in the pan, and then add this entire tadka to the pot of rice and mix it through till evenly incorporated.
Drizzle the lemon juice a little at a time over the rice and mix so all of the rice gets evenly coated. Taste to check if it’s tangy enough for you, or add some more lemon juice as per your taste. Right in the end, I like to add some cashews that have been fried till golden in a little ghee.
Cover this pot of rice and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. This will help the flavours seep into the rice and will also help soften the urad and chana dal which usually end up being quite crunchy. After it’s rested a while, serve. I like eating this as is, but you could serve it with some mango pickle.
Ingredients
Directions
To make Lemon Rice, first cook the rice until just cooked through. Overcooked, mushy rice won’t taste very good. If you have leftover rice, warm it up a bit.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan and splutter 1 tsp mustard seeds. Once they splutter, turn down the heat and add 1 tsp urad dal, 1 tsp chana dal, ½ tsp hing, 1 inch chopped ginger, 2 chopped green chillies, and 10 curry leaves. Let this mixture fry well till the curry leaves crisp up.
Toss in the chopped onion and fry it till it turns translucent. It shouldn’t turn golden brown, just translucent will do. Add salt to taste and 1 tsp haldi and turn off the heat. Let the haldi cook a bit in the residual heat in the pan, and then add this entire tadka to the pot of rice and mix it through till evenly incorporated.
Drizzle the lemon juice a little at a time over the rice and mix so all of the rice gets evenly coated. Taste to check if it’s tangy enough for you, or add some more lemon juice as per your taste. Right in the end, I like to add some cashews that have been fried till golden in a little ghee.
Cover this pot of rice and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. This will help the flavours seep into the rice and will also help soften the urad and chana dal which usually end up being quite crunchy. After it’s rested a while, serve. I like eating this as is, but you could serve it with some mango pickle.