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how to make simple & easy lemon rice or south indian chitranna recipe
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5 from 34 votes

Lemon Rice | Chitranna Recipe | How to make Lemon Rice

Lemon Rice or Chitranna is a very delicious and flavorful rice with right amount of crunchiness, spiciness, and tanginess. Lemon rice is a comfort food at many homes. If you have left over rice, then this dish can be prepared and served in less than 10 minutes.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Andhra Pradesh, Coastal Karnataka, Indian, Karnataka, South Indian, Tamil Nadu
Servings: 6
Calories: 211kcal
Author: Kushi

Equipment

  • 2 Pans

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Rice
  • 2 tablespoon Coconut Oil / Canola Oil / Vegetable Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Urad dal
  • 1 tablespoon Chana Dal
  • ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
  • A pinch Asafoetida / Hing
  • ¼ cup Peanuts
  • 10 to 15 Cashews
  • 1 Dry red chili broken
  • 1 Green chile 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
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Cook the rice using any method that you are comfortable with. Add salt while cooking the rice.
    1 cup Rice
  • Once the rice is cooked and comes to room temperature, use a fork to separate the grains. Keep this aside.
  • If you have left over rice then this recipe is ready in less than 10 minutes. For a change, I have used Basmati rice for this recipe. You may use any rice of your choice.
  • Heat oil in pan or kadai on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low setting, and mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dal, chana dal, hing, turmeric powder, and saute till the rawness of turmeric goes off and dal turns light-golden in color. 
    2 tablespoon Coconut Oil / Canola Oil / Vegetable Oil, 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds, 1 teaspoon Urad dal, 1 tablespoon Chana Dal, ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder, A pinch Asafoetida / Hing
  • Add peanuts, cashews, red chile, green chile, ginger, and curry leaves and saute till peanuts and cashews are roasted. 
    ¼ cup Peanuts, 10 to 15 Cashews, 1 Dry red chili broken, 1 Green chile chopped, 1 tablespoon Ginger chopped, 10 Curry leaves or approx 1 sprig
  • To this tempering add rice, coriander leaves, lemon juice, salt if required and toss till combined.
    ¼ cup Coriander leaves / Cilantro chopped, 2 tablespoon Lemon juice, Salt to taste
  • Lemon Rice is now ready. Serve and enjoy

Instant Pot Lemon Rice

  • Wash and drain the rice and keep it aside.
  • Press SAUTE button on your instant pot. Once hot, add oil to inner pot of your instant pot.
  • Add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, hing , turmeric powder and saute till rawness goes off.
  • Add peanuts, cashews, red chile, green chile, ginger, and curry leaves and saute till peanuts and cashews are roasted.  At this point you can either transfer this tempering aside and toss it later or continue cooking along with it.
  • Pour 1 ¼ cup of water, salt to taste and deglaze by scrubbing the bottom of pot with spatula. Press CANCEL button.
  • Add washed and drained rice, mix well.
  • Close the lid with vent to Sealing Position. Press the pressure cook button and set the time for 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 and remove inner pot and set aside.
  • When tempertaure comes down a bit, add lemon juice, cilantro and mix until combined. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

  • Vary all the ingredients as per your preference. 
  • The ratio of rice to water varies depending on brand of rice used. 
  • You may use asafoetida powder(hing) or asafoetida dissolved in water. If adding in dissolved form, add it at the end of tempering. 

Nutrition

Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 131IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg