Lemon Rice (Limbu Chadam)

A quick and simple dish that can be made in 30 minutes. You can have it by itself or with sambar/rasam. A refreshing, aromatic, and lemony rice – you can vary the spice level as per you liking to make it a spicy or a soothing dish. 

This rice turns out well if the rice is cooked just right – with separate fluffy grains. For this, use two cups of water for every one cup of rice. You can also make this recipe to make great use of leftover rice. 

 

Ingredients:
Cooked Rice: 1 cup
Turmeric: ½ teaspoon
Lemon: 1 small
Salt to taste
Cooking oil: 2 teaspoons
Ghee: 1 teaspoon (optional – but this increases flavor and taste)
Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
Black gram split (Udad dal) 1 teaspoon
Bengal gram split (Chana dal) 1 teaspoon
Dried red chillies: 1 (broken into half)
Peanuts: 1 tablespoon
Green chillies: 2 (chopped fine)
Ginger chopped fine: 1 teaspoon
Curry Leaves: a few
Cilantro (Coriander leaves) a few
Asafoetida (hing): a pinch 

Method:

1. Heat the oil and ghee in a wide and deep vessel (kadhai).
2. Once well heated, add the mustard seeds for the tempering. Fry till the seeds splutter.
3. When they begin popping, add the asafetida, dals (bengal gram and black gram), and the peanuts. Allow to fry till slightly browned.
4. Then, add the green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, and turmeric powder. Roast for a minute.
5. Take off the heat and add the cooked rice and mix well carefully. The spices should mix well in the rice and make it evenly yellow. But at the same time, the rice should not become mushy.
6. Place again on low heat for a couple of minutes and keep the vessel covered so that the rice is well heated up and the flavors are blend into the rice.
7. Take the rice off the heat.
8. Squeeze the juice of the lemon and add salt to taste.
9. When slightly cooled, add the lemon juice with salt and stir well.
10. Add chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves for garnish. The rice is ready to serve! You may fry a few chopped cashews and add as a garnish.