Lemon rice
Rice tossed in a tadka of mustard seeds, chana and urad dal, peanuts, curry leaves and green chillies, turned yellow with turmeric and sharp with lemon juice: Karnataka's chitranna and Tamil Nadu's elumichai sadam. The lunchbox classic, ready in 15 minutes from leftover rice; here with papad. Jain homes make it as it is.
- 40 minTime
- 20 minHands-on
- 4Portions
- 12 gprotein per portion
- 490kcal per portion
Ingredients for 4 portions
- 300 gRice, sona masoori or ponni
- ≈ 700 mlWater
- 3 tbspRefined oil
- 4 tbspPeanuts, raw
- 1 tspMustard seeds
- 1 tbspChana dal
- 1 tspUrad dal
- 2Dried red chillies, broken in half
- 2Green chillies, slit
- 2 sprigsCurry leaves
- 1 mlHing (asafoetida)
- 3 mlTurmeric
- 2Lemons (nimbu), juiced
- 2 tbspCoriander leaves, chopped
- to tasteSalt
On the side
- 4Papads
Method
- Rinse the rice 2–3 times and put it in the pressure cooker with the water. Close the lid.
- Pressure-cook on medium for 3 whistles, about 12 minutes, and let the pressure drop by itself.
- Slit the green chillies, chop the coriander leaves and squeeze the lemons.
- Spread the hot rice out on a large plate so the grains stay separate.
- Leave the rice to cool for about 10 minutes, until just warm.
- Heat the oil in a kadai over a medium heat and fry the peanuts until golden and crunchy, about 2 minutes. Add the mustard seeds; when they splutter, add the chana dal, urad dal and dried red chillies and fry until the dals turn golden. Add the green chillies, curry leaves and hing, then take off the heat and stir in the turmeric.
- Roast the papads one at a time over the gas flame with tongs, turning, until blistered all over.
- Stir the lemon juice and salt into the tadka, add the rice and mix gently until every grain is yellow. Scatter over the coriander leaves and serve with the papads.
