Lemon Rice Recipe | Chitranna
South Indian Lemon Rice, or Chitranna, is a tangy, flavorful, and simple rice dish made with cooked rice, fresh lemon juice, coriander leaves, and a tempering of aromatic spices. This recipe is inspired by temple-style chitranna popular in Coastal Karnataka. This vegan lemon rice is easy to prepare and a great option for a quick meal or lunchbox.
Servings: 6
Calories: 133kcal
Equipment
- 2 Pans
Ingredients
- 1 cup Uncooked Basmati Rice 3 cups cooked or leftover rice
- 2 tablespoon Coconut Oil Canola Oil / Vegetable Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal
- 1 tablespoon Chana Dal optional
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- A pinch Asafoetida Hing, optional
- ¼ cup Peanuts
- 10 to 15 Cashews
- 1 Dry red chili broken optional
- 2 Green chiles chopped
- 1 tablespoon Ginger chopped
- 10 Curry leaves or approx 1 sprig
- ¼ cup Coriander leaves Cilantro chopped
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice adjust as per taste
- ½ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
Instructions
Cook the rice on the stovetop
- Nicely wash and rinse the rice.1 cup Uncooked Basmati Rice
- Bring 3 to 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the washed rice and cook on medium flame for 15 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through.
- Drain and keep it aside.
- Once it comes to room temperature, use a fork to separate the grains.
Leftover rice
- You can use any leftover rice to make this chitranna. 1 cup uncooked rice makes 3 cups cooked rice. Cooled, precooked, or leftover rice also works best, as it prevents the dish from turning mushy and the grains remain separate when tossed with tempering.
How to make lemon rice?
- Heat oil in a pan or kadai on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low and add mustard seeds.2 tbsp Coconut Oil , 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- When it splutters, add urad dal, chana dal, hing, and turmeric powder, and sauté until the turmeric rawness goes off and the dal turns light golden.1 tsp Urad dal, 1 tbsp Chana Dal, ½ tsp Turmeric powder, A pinch Asafoetida
- Add peanuts, cashews, red chili, green chili, ginger, and curry leaves, and sauté until the peanuts and cashews are roasted.¼ cup Peanuts, 10 to 15 Cashews , 1 Dry red chili broken, 2 Green chiles, 1 tbsp Ginger, 10 Curry leaves
- Add the rice, coriander leaves, lemon juice, and salt (as needed), then toss to combine.¼ cup Coriander leaves, 2 tbsp Lemon juice, ½ tsp Salt
- Serve and enjoy.
Instant pot lemon rice
- Wash and drain the rice, then set aside.
- Press the SAUTE button on your instant pot. Once hot, add oil to the inner pot.
- Add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, hing, turmeric powder, and sauté until the rawness goes off.
- Add peanuts, cashews, red chile, green chile, ginger, and curry leaves, and sauté until the peanuts and cashews are roasted. At this point,, you can either transfer this tempering aside and toss it in later or continue cooking with it.
- Pour in 1 ¼ cup water, add salt to taste, and deglaze by scraping the bottom of the pot with a spatula. Press the CANCEL button.
- Add washed and drained rice; mix well.
- Close the lid with the vent in the sealing position. Press the Pressure Cook button and set the time to 5 minutes.
- Once done. let the pressure release naturally for 7 to 8 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure manually.
- Open the lid of your IP, remove the inner pot, and set it aside.
- When the temperature comes down a bit, add lemon juice and cilantro, and mix until combined. Serve and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Adjust the ingredients to your preference. Some are optional and can be skipped without affecting the taste.
- Rice - Make sure the rice is not sticky or mushy. If you overcook the rice by mistake, let it cool completely, break up the lumps, then add it to the tempering. If you have leftover day-old rice, use 3 cups.
- The rice-to-water ratio varies by rice brand.
- You may use asafoetida powder(hing) or asafoetida dissolved in water. If adding in dissolved form, add it at the end of tempering. You may also skip this for a gluten-free version.
Nutrition
Calories: 133kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 267mg | Potassium: 522mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 662IU | Vitamin C: 96mg | Calcium: 145mg | Iron: 5mg