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Lemon Rice is one of the many rice dishes that are an integral part of South Indian Cuisine. It is a flavorful tangy twist to plain white rice. Some of the other varieties of rice from the South are Coconut Rice, Yogurt/Curd Rice, Sesame Rice, Tomato Rice, Tamarind Rice…only to name a few! Try this quick, easy recipe that is so visually appealing. It is sure to spruce up any kind of rice – fresh or leftover.
Ingredients:
Cooked Rice – 3 cups
Oil - 1 tbsp
Dried Red Chili – 1
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Channa Daal - 1 tsp
Raw Peanuts – 1 tbsp
Cashews – 1 tbsp
Urad Daal - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Asofoetida – pinch
Ginger – 1 tsp, minced
Green Chili – 1, finely chopped (optional)
Curry Leaves – 1 sprig
Lemon/Lime Juice – 2 tbsp or to taste
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - 5 springs, for garnishing
Method:
- Mix Salt and Lemon Juice to the Rice. Mix well.
- In a pan, heat oil and wait for it to get hot.
- Once hot, add in the Dried Whole Chili. Break the Chili into the oil for additional spicy flavor.
- Add in the Mustard Seeds and let them pop and crackle.
- Add i n the Channa Daal and cook for a minute.
- Add in Raw Peanuts and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add in the Cashews, Urad Daal, Turmeric Powder, Asofoetida, Ginger, Green Chilies, Curry Leaves…in that order.
- Add in the Rice and mix well but gently.
- Keep on the flame till the rice is hot all the way through.
- Garnish with Cilantro and it is ready to serve.
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Orkut
October 30th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
what kind of rice we can use in this recepie?
[Reply]
November 1st, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Lemon rice is one of the easiest rice dishes to make, I think. So far, I haven’t put in cashews and some of the other things, but the video and picture look so good I’ll have to give this recipe a try as it is.
Thanks for posting. How about tamarind rice next time?
[Reply]
November 5th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Hi Meenakshi,
If you are using leftover rice, any type of rice will work. However, if you make fresh rice for this recipe, you must use a non-sticky rice such as Basmati or any other long grain variety.
[Reply]
November 11th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Hello!
I made this recipe twice now and both my husband and I absolutely love it. My only question is if you can provide nutrition information? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Sanja Broer
[Reply]
December 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Hi
I made lemon rice for the first time today. I used this recipe and my husband loved it! I really liked it too! When making this, one masala egg dish came to my mind, which a friend had served a few years back along with lemon rice.It consisted of boiled and sliced eggs, slightly fried in very little oil, but had kind of tadka thing done to it with some light added masala(powdered). I’m not sure if this is a common/regular kind of side dish served with other main dishes in Southern Indian households, but would appreciate it if you posted the recipe here.
[Reply]
December 30th, 2008 at 3:46 am
I am wanting to try this recipe out but I can not find any FRESH curry leaves. Can I make it with dried ones?
[Reply]
December 30th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Hi Josee,
Yes, you can use dried curry leaves.
Take care!
[Reply]
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:52 am
ANUJA BAJI AP BOHAT ACHI RECIPES BATATEY HA
AP MARY KO KARI PATAY KO MHAYFOIZ KAR NAY KA
TARIQA BATA THEY
AP KI BOHAT MAHHAR BANI OH GI
THANK YOU
(ASLAM BAHI)
khan4555@hotmail.com
aslam4555@hotmail.com
[Reply]
April 9th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
hi ladies,
In south India we do not use Basmati rice to prepare this dish as it has a unique flavour and it will overpower the lemony taste of the rice.
we can use ponni or sona masuri.
[Reply]
June 21st, 2009 at 3:43 am
Hi,
The recipe looks delicious and easy , would you have some suggestions on what to serve it with…..
Thanks
[Reply]
anuja Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
It is usually served with pickle.
[Reply]
June 21st, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Hi,
Thanks for your video and clear instructions. It tasts great but the Dal is rock hard. I put the rice back into a rice cooker to steam it soft. This also kills the flavor. Please advise.
[Reply]
anuja Reply:
June 24th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
If the oil is too hot, the outside of the daals change color without the inside being cooked, making it hard.
[Reply]
September 28th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Hello ladies,
Is it ok if we do all the seasoning and then put in cooker with raw rice?
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Hi Bhavika,
If you do the seasoning and raw rice in the cooker, you’ll get a pulao – the taste is different than lemon rice.
[Reply]
September 30th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
hmmm…Ok will not do that for lemon rice..thanks again
[Reply]
September 8th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Why not add lemon juice in the end after switching off the stove and mix well the contents?
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
September 8th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Hi Pavithra,
You can add it in the end. It is just our personal preference (we think the salt and lime juice get infused into the rice during the cooking or heating process rather than just staying over the top).
[Reply]
November 28th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Thanks you guyes very much
[Reply]
January 9th, 2011 at 7:29 am
Hi Hetal/Anuja,
What is a better option to use: bottled or fresh lemon juice?
Thanks
[Reply]
anuja Reply:
January 12th, 2011 at 4:54 am
Hi Pia,
Fresh is always better but there is is nothing to beat the convenience – having said that we try to use fresh when we have it on hand but sometimes the sun, the moon and the stars just don’t align.
[Reply]
Pia Reply:
January 12th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
LOL.. Thank You Anuja..
[Reply]
April 12th, 2011 at 11:04 am
Thanks 4 this recipe. My husband loves lemon rice and I used to get the ready made paste available in the market. You guys have made the recipe look so simple! Thank you so much for sharing the same.
[Reply]
May 9th, 2011 at 9:11 am
Hello ladies,
I am from Andhra and thought I would share a tip to make this dish even yummier.
Before adding lemonnjuice to the rice, mix a power of eaual quantites of roasted cumin & mustard to the rice. For 3 cups rice approximately 1.5 tsps of each will do.
This powder changes the texture of the rice, adds flavour and absorbs any extra oil!
Regards,
Gauri
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
May 9th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
Hi Gauri,
Wow! What an interesting addition to lemon rice. We will surely give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
[Reply]
May 17th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
I need a little lesson in urad here. I had black whole urad in my cupboard which is rather strong and earthy and I like to use in combination with moong or masoor for texture contrast. For the purpose of this kind of recipe I purchased white urad. I now see from this video I may have gotten the wrong thing as my beans are still whole even though white. Do I need to go back out and get a split urad? And if so, what is the best use for the whole white urad? Thank you for such a great site. I’m learning ever so much faster from you than I did on my own from cookbooks and coaching from Indian co-workers.
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
May 17th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Hi Kristin,
As you have found, Urad comes in different varieties: whole black, split black, split white and whole white. Whole black is used for daals like Daal Makhani. Whole white is used for dosa or idli batter. Split white is used for seasoning, daals and dosa/idli batter, split black is used for daals. Unfortunately, the split white is the only one that can be used for seasoning (as in this Lemon Rice recipe).
[Reply]
Kristin Reply:
May 18th, 2011 at 1:46 am
Thanks for such a fast response. So off to the Indian grocery go I again. At least the owner is getting more used to me instead of following the poor Western woman around the store to make sure she doesn’t get lost.
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
May 18th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Lol! You’ll be an expert in no time
.
November 10th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Please show us how to make a falafel sandwich with tahini sauce!
[Reply]
March 6th, 2012 at 2:11 am
Here is a LEMON RICE recipe which our family loves, a nice alternative to the above one. It tastes wonderful without the dhals.
Have 2 cups cooked rice ready to go (keep in fridge until
you will use it).
In pan:
2 tspns oil, Warm (heat the oil)
Add palm full Mustard Seeds, let them splutter
Lower heat and add
Add 4 mirchi chopped (or less if you prefer)
Add 6 Curry Leaves, add 2 whole Red Peppers
Spread this on cooked rice,
Add turmeric tspn to the rice
Cook 2 minutes over Med high heat
Add tspn salt………add 2 tspns water if dry.
Finally, add juice of 3 lemons.
Yummy!
[Reply]
Sita Reply:
March 6th, 2012 at 2:21 am
Forgot to add stir everything together obviously!
[Reply]
September 25th, 2012 at 4:57 am
I always goof up this lemon rice pls tell me for two cups of cooked rice how much of concentrated or bottle lemon juice to use ..thank you
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
October 1st, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Hi Shobana,
We use bottled lemon juice quite often, but would say that for this recipe, fresh is the best. Since lemon/lime is the predominant flavor here, the bottled juice tends to get too intense.
[Reply]