Lemon Rice Recipe | Elumicchai saadham recipe | Lemon rice with nuts

Lemon rice with nuts is our favorite variety rice. Lemon rice is a great travel food as well as an ideal lunch box recipe. Since childhood, I thought lemon rice was yellow in color because of lemon 😉 Only when I started to cook, I knew the fact that turmeric powder gives yellow color to the rice and not the lemons 😉 😉 Lemon is rich in Vitamin C which is responsible for the better absorption of iron in the body. Pairing vitamin C rich lemon rice with iron rich foods is a wise choice. I do not heat lemon while making my lemon rice to avoid losing the percentage of vitamin C in it. But believe me, this method will not compensate the taste of lemon rice. We shall make tasty & healthy lemon rice.

Nutty Lemon Rice Recipe:

Lemon Rice Recipe | Elumicchai saadham recipe | Lemon rice with nuts

 

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Ingredients

To cook rice:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Water - 2 to 3 cups as required
• Rock Salt - 1 tsp

Base ingredient:

• Lemon - 1 big or 2 small

To temper:

• Sesame oil - 1 or 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - ¼ tsp
• Chana dal - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - ½ tsp
• Curry leaves - Few

For flavors:

• Hing - ½ tsp
• Green chillies - 4
• Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp
• Ginger - Small piece without skin

Nuts:

• Peanuts - 1 tbsp
• Cashews - 10

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How to cook Rice?:

1. Take 1 cup rice, wash twice and soak for 10 to 20 mins.
2. In a pan, add 3 cups water(refer tips below), ½ tsp rock salt and cook covered in high flame.
3. Once it starts to rolling boil, add soaked rice(drain water completely and then add) and cook closed for 3 mins, until it starts to boil again.
4. Once rice and water are in same level, simmer and continue to cook closed for 10 mins.
5. After 10 mins, rice should have been cooked well without any water in it. Switch off the stove.
6. If cooking in Pressure cooker, just use 2.5 cups water(refer tips section) and pressure cook in high flame for 3 whistles.

How to make Nutty Lemon Rice ?:

1. Spread the cooked rice in a large bowl/plate, add 1 tsp sesame oil, gently spread with a fork and let it cool down.
2. In a pan, add few drops of sesame oil and peanuts.
3. Roast the peanuts in low flame. Once roasted, transfer it to a plate.
4. Add few more drops of oil and roast the cashews. Once roasted to light golden color, transfer it to a plate. Do not darken cashews while roasting.
5. Add 1 tbsp oil to the same pan. Once hot, add mustard seeds.
6. Once spluttered, simmer the stove and add chanadal & urad dal. Keep sauteing for even roasting.
7. Once the color of dals starts to change(do not darken), add curry leaves, split & halved green chillies, grated ginger.
8. In few seconds, add asafoetida/hing, give a quick mix and switch off.
9. Immediately, add turmeric powder, mix very quickly(less than 3 seconds) and pour it into cooled rice as quick as possible. Turmeric powder should not be heated longer as it will become darker and give a bitter taste.
10. Squeeze 1 big or 2 small lemon into the rice over a perforated ladle to catch the seeds of lemon.
11. Throw out the seeds and gently, mix the rice well.
12. Add roasted peanuts & cashews and give a gentle mix.
13. Taste and add more lemon or salt, if required. The rice should be slightly tangy.
14. Keep closed for 2 hours and let the flavors infuse well.
15. Serve with potato fry or papad or Mint thogayal or liver masala(link) or grilled fish(link) or any spicy side dish. Scroll down to read the tips..

Tips for making Nutty Lemon Rice:

• Do not use raw rice. Use parboiled or boiled rice. Sona Masoori or Ponni or IR20 or any white rice variety that you daily eat can be used.
• Water quantity might differ as per rice variety. If your rice is mushy for the specified water measurement, then reduce 1/2 cup water. If you use 2 cups water to cook in pressure cooker, you should use 1/2 cup extra water, that is 2.5 cups in pot method.
• Add generous oil(at least 1 tbsp) while tempering, as less oil will make the rice dry.
• Hing/Asafoetida is the secret ingredient that elevates the flavor. Add hing generously & find out the difference in elevated taste.
• After roasting, removing the skin of peanuts is optional. Peanuts with skin tastes better in this recipe.
• If you have bought roasted peanuts & roasted cashews, just add them at the end to the rice, while mixing.
• Green chillies can be replaced with red chillies or a mix of both. If you are taking out for travel, use red chillies for longer goodness.
• Don’t forget to switch off the stove before adding turmeric powder. Take care as it will burn quicker.
• Amount of turmeric powder decides the shade of yellow(light to dark) in lemon rice. But too much of turmeric powder might give a slight bitter taste.
• Avoid squeezing the lemon to the last drop as it might be bitter.
• Nuts are optional and you can skip, if you wish. But nuts elevate the taste of lemon rice.