This is my lovely mom's recipe for Lemon Rice. She still makes it for road trips and pairs it with my spice mix Spicy Chicken Marinade (easy baked chicken marinated in yogurt and spices that packs a of flavor). It's a dish that can be eaten lukewarm and still retains a lot of delicious flavor. This dish has a nutty crunchy texture due to the use of Urad Dhal (split black lentils that are skinned to expose their creamy white interior) in the rice. You probably could skip using Urad Dhal, however the crunchy texture and taste of Urad Dhal elevates this easy dish to a whole new level of deliciousness!! It's a great way to white rice. I like to eat this pairing with my Potato and Egg Fry spice mix (Egg Optional) because it adds to the overall heartiness of the dish. It's meat and style!
* DOWNLOAD THE PDF FORMAT OF THE RECIPE HERE
Ingredients
2-3 cups cooked white rice, (usually use basmati rice - leftover rice works great!)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Mustard Seed
1 whole dried red chilli
1 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp Urad Dhal (split black lentils that are white in color, usually bought at your local Indian grocery store)
¼ cup lemon juice (preferably from fresh lemons)
¼ tsp Salt
Make a mixture of lemon juice and salt ahead of time and set aside. The salt makes the lemon juice slightly sweet.
Recipe
- Heat olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute.
- Saute mustard seeds and dried red chilli till seeds start to sputter and red chilli turns a darker color.
- Turn heat down to medium low, add Urad Dhal. Stir Urad dhal continually till it turns a light caramel brown (about 30 seconds -1 minute). Urad Dhal burns make sure to watch
- Add turmeric and mix well (~30 seconds) with contents of
- Add in cooked rice and mix well till all the white rice is coated with a yellow color from turmeric.
- Turn off add lemon juice and salt mixture and mix well. If more lemony taste is desired, squeeze extra lemon juice on rice to taste.
Enjoy!!