Lemon Rice

Lemon rice is a quick n easy meal you can put together when you don't have too much time to invest in an elaborate meal. Variety rice(Rice with different seasonings) is very popular in south India and Lemon rice is one of the popular ones. This colorful and flavorsome meal is a great option for a lunch pack.

Prep Time:  10 mins (excluding the time to cook rice)

Ingredients

Rice: 1 cup

Turmeric powder: 2 teaspoons

Lemon Juice: 2-3 tablespoons

Green Chilies (chopped): 3-4

Ginger (chopped): 1 -2 teaspoons

Peanuts: 1/4 cup

Asofoetida:  1/2 teaspoon

Mustard seeds:  1 teaspoon

Split Urad Dal: 1 1/2 teaspoons

Dried Red Chili: 3-4

Curry Leaves: one sprig

Sesame/Til Oil : 1-2 teaspoons

Oil for seasoning.

* We used Sona masoori rice.

* There are two ways to make the lemon rice. Either add the seasoning to the left over cooked white rice or cook it fresh. If you cook rice with the intention to make Lemon rice, a tip given to us is that add turmeric powder and salt while cooking the rice to get an even yellow color.

* Some people do the complete seasoning in sesame oil. However we made the seasoning in regular cooking oil and drizzled some sesame oil in the end.

Heat some oil in a pan, Splutter the mustard seeds, urad dal, dried red chillies and asofoetida. Add the turmeric powder, if you have not already added it while cooking the rice. Also add the roasted peanuts, curry leaves, green chillies and chopped ginger. Saute well. Add the rice. Adjust the salt  levels. Pour the lemon juice. Stir well ensuring the rice doesn't get burnt at the bottom of the pan. Drizzle the sesame oil .

Serve hot  with Pappad and pickle.