Lemon Rice | Quick And Easy South Indian Rice Recipe

If life gives you lemons make lemon rice. It is deliciously lemony with soft and crunchy textures and is delightfully easy to prepare. This Lemon rice recipe is immensely popular in South India and soon will be in your home too once you’ve tried it…that is for sure! South Indian lemon rice can be enjoyed on its own and is popular both with kids and adults alike. It is also a quick fix dish for those working from home and wanting to prepare something delicious and simple.
 

Lemon rice is made with boiled or steamed rice to which a tempering is added. Lemon rice ingredients consist of cumin and mustard seeds, which are used for tempering along with curry leaves and ginger, which pack a ton of flavour, and red and green chillies, adding a touch of spiciness to the lemon rice. The black gram (urad dal) and Bengal gram (chana dal) give a pleasing crunch to South Indian lemon rice while turmeric (haldi), the healing spice, gives this dish its eye-pleasing yellow colour mimicking a lemon. The dominant flavour in this lemon rice preparation comes from lemon juice (or lime juice if you prefer). A final layer of texture and flavour is added to the lemon rice with a garnishing of fresh coriander leaves and fried cashew nuts just before serving the dish.
 

In the state of Karnataka lemon rice is very popular and goes by the name Chitranna or Nimbehannu Chitranna. Lemon rice is equally popular in other southern Indian states too. Lemon rice is eaten in southern India for breakfast and is the preferred lunchbox dish in those states. Like lemon rice, the southern Indian states have a variety of rice preparations made in a similar manner but with very distinct tastes such as the curd rice, tamarind rice, tomato rice et al.
 

How to make lemon rice like a chef:

It is advisable to prepare the boiled rice an hour or two before you plan to prepare lemon rice. In this way the rice will come to room temperature. Remember to fluff the rice after boiling as we have shown in our lemon rice video to ensure that the grains stay separate. The cooling of the rice will ensure the lemon rice will not be sticky or turn mushy upon mixing the boiled rice with tempering. Our step-by-step video above and recipe below has the detailed process of how to prepare lemon rice.
 

To make the process of making lemon rice shorter, you could boil the rice the previous night and refrigerate it. By working ahead, all you would have to do would be to make and add the tempering a few minutes before you plan to eat or serve it.
 

We have used the traditional method of making lemon rice which calls for a tempering with both Bengal gram (chana dal) and black gram (urad dal). As always, when you prepare the tempering you need to make sure the dals and spices like cumin seeds do not turn too dark as they will render the dish bitter. While we have used two tablespoons lime juice for our South Indian lemon rice recipe, you could additionally add lime zest and finish the dish with another squirt of lemon or lime juice for extra zing and sourness, if desired.
 

The finishing touch for super tasty south Indian lemon rice:

Lemon rice is typically eaten on its own for breakfast or lunch (well, we enjoy it at dinner too!!). It is sometimes served with yoghurt or coconut chutney. You could even serve it with your favourite pickle and appalam. You could garnish the lemon rice with roasted cashew nuts and chopped fresh coriander like we have done in our recipe. If you don’t have cashew nuts, you could use fried peanuts instead. An addition of shredded fresh coconut can be done for a slightly varied flavour profile.
 

Learn how to make tasty lemon rice at home with step by step pictures and video instructions along with all ingredients and cooking method here from Yummefy Recipes
 

If you liked this recipe you will enjoy making our:

Tamarind Rice
Tomato Rice
Yakhni Pulao
Veg Tahiri
Hyderabadi Dum Biryani
Aloo Chutney Pulao
Corn Biryani

Or take a look at all our Rice Recipes right here!