India has a long-standing love affair with rice. The food grain has been consumed by people of the subcontinent for thousands of years. The Indian cuisine also takes credit for some stellar rice dishes, including the wide variety of biryanis and pulaos that are cooked in different regions of the country. India is one of the largest producers of rice and being a principal food grain of the country, rice cultivation also occupies the largest land area here. Rice dishes double up as comfort food for so many of us. Rice is easy to cook and if there are leftovers, then those can also be easily utilised the next day and turned into delicious Mains. One such dish that you can make from leftover rice is lemon rice.
Also known as 'Chitranna', lemon rice is a dish native to the Southern part of India and is particularly popular in Karnataka. The characteristic feature of the dish is the presence of mustard seeds, curry leaves and roasted peanuts in it. The dish is extremely easy to make and may even be ready in minutes, if you have your plain rice cooked. All you need to do to make lemon rice is cook mustard seeds, split green chillies and peanuts in oil, then add the rice, turmeric, coriander powder, salt and fresh lemon juice to the mix and then cook. You may use a non-stick pan to cook the rice and add some freshly grated ginger to amp up the flavours.
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Some people even choose to add chopped onions and grated garlic to the dish, but lemon rice doesn't typically contain either. YouTube chef Ananya Banerjee shows how to make this delicious and comforting lemon rice within minutes. The recipe is quite simple and may be modified as per your individual taste.
Also Read: 10 Best South Indian Rice Recipes