Classic Lemon Rice
My Classic Lemon Rice recipe is an easy, must try recipe.
Classic Lemon Rice
Coming at you with another South Indian classic. Lemon rice can be found all over the south of India and is a very popular dish to set out during holidays and festivals. This one is actually one of my Mom’s favorite recipes. I remember HATING this rice for the longest time. I can’t even tell you why but…somewhere around my college years, my opinion completely shifted and it’s become one of my favorites as well!
South Indian Rice Dishes – Pongals
Among us Sourashtrans, this Classic Lemon Rice is on a list of many kinds of rice that use a white rice base before adding another item to enhance the rice. We use lemon, tomato, and tamarind in our rice dishes too. (those latter two are forthcoming, promise!) We’ll be working on the lemon rice today! This recipe is a perfect way to enhance a basic rice side dish – it dresses up plain rice and can go well with a lot of curries including The Happy Haandi’s Chicken Ambut and Madras Chicken!
Let’s get started!
Classic Lemon Rice aka Lemon Pongal
The BEST thing about this recipe, it requires just a few quick ingredients to put together. This recipe gives you a bright, citrusy rice dish that is sure to impress! We’ll begin by cooking some long-grain white rice. The ratio for my recipe will be two cups – feel free to math it out if you want to make more or less rice! Once the rice is cooked, spread it out on a plate or casserole dish, which will help the rice cool for mixing later.
Find these spices at most grocery stores or head to your local Indian/Middle Eastern store.
Next, we’ll fry up our garnishes for the rice. This recipe requires our usual ingredients, such as dried red chilies, dried chickpeas, mustard seeds, and moong dal. I like to heat some vegetable oil until it’s almost smoking and then add the mustard seeds first, once they splutter, turn the heat off and add the rest. You will cook the dried chickpeas until they turn a nice brown color. We’ll add these fried ingredients with the hot oil into our rice and allow it to cool.
Wait for the pleasant aromas to fill your kitchen.
Once everything is cool enough to touch, add lemon juice and turmeric powder and give it a good mix. Using your hand is best here, this can ensure even color and a nice spread. As you’re mixing, slowly add in salt to taste. The best way to do this is to add some salt, mix, taste, and add more, as needed.
It’s easiest to use your hands to mix together the lemon rice.
Give it a final mix, then it’s ready to go!
This lemon rice is great by itself or paired with chicken.
Try pairing this Classic Lemon Rice with my Chicken Ambut – South Indian Style Recipe.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pictures of your creations on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok! Hashtag them #thehappyhaandi. And tag me @thehappyhaandi.
Classic Lemon Rice
Equipment
- 1 Rice Cooker (Optional)
- 1 Pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups White (Long Grain Rice)
- 2-3 tsp Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup Lemon Juice I use a little more. Give it a taste and see!
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 4 tsp Dried Chickpea Halves
- 2 tsp Moong Dal
- 4 Dried Red Chilies (broken into pieces)
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
For the Lemon Rice:
- First, cook the white rice per instructions. When the rice is ready, spread it into a container or casserole dish. Let the rice cool.
- Meanwhile, heat up some olive oil in a small saute pan. Once the oil is shimmering, add the mustard seeds. They will pop some (be careful!). Once they settle down, turn the heat off and add the dried chickpea, red chilies, and moong dal and allow to toast.
- Pour the oil and spice mixture into the rice. Mix the rice until it's evenly mixed.
- Add the lemon juice and turmeric to the rice and mix again. I would heavily recommend mixing by hand here. It ensures the rice is nicely coated and evenly mixed.
- Finally, add salt. 1 tsp seems to be about right but I would add some (about 1/2 tsp) and mix it one last time. Give it a taste. Continue this routine until you have enough salt to your liking.
I’ve made this recipe several times for my family and we all love it! It’s easy to put together and it goes great as a side dish.