Lemon rice recipe with traditional & instant pot methods – Lemon rice is one of the most popular South Indian rice recipes. It is a comfort food for many and is most commonly eaten for a meal. Lemon rice has a delicate flavor of fresh lemon juice along with the aroma of the tempering spices.
Chitranna & nimmakaya pulihora are the other south Indian regional names to this dish.
Making lemon rice is one of the simplest & is great to begin with if you are a newbie. The entire dish just gets done under 10 minutes if you have some precooked rice ready.
Lemon rice tastes good on its own. However many people love it with plain yogurt or curd, pickle, raita, chutney, salad or kosambari. During festivals or occasions we serve it with some fried snacks like masala vada, papad or pakora.
Back home in India, lemon rice is one of the most common travel foods. Many people pack it for road or train journeys as the dish keeps good for long hours due to the addition of turmeric.
In this post I have shared making the traditional method & also the instant pot version.
Tips to make lemon rice
- The addition of fresh ginger, curry leaves & green chilies totally elevate the flavor of the lemon rice. These are the 3 ingredients that are key to making the dish. However if curry leaves are not available in your part of the world just skip them & use some coriander leaves or cilantro.
- Traditionally peanuts & a small portion of lentils are used to add crunch to the dish. If you do not have them just replace with some cashew nuts.
- Lemon rice can be made with any cooking oil like peanut oil, sesame oil or sunflower oil. I like to add a dash of extra virgin olive oil towards the end. Olive oil doesn’t really go well in Indian foods but lemon rice is an exception.
- To make a good refreshing lemon rice always use fresh lemons. I personally like the large variety of lemons as they are really flavorful. You can also use limes.
- Most commonly short grain rice is used to make this. But any kind of rice just goes well. The rice has to be less starchy as the cooked grains have to be separate & grainy without being sticky or mushy.
More rice recipes on the blog,
Tomato rice
Fried rice
Jeera rice
Coconut rice
Tomato bath
Pudina rice
Lemon rice recipe
Lemon rice recipe | How to make lemon rice
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients for lemon rice
- 1½ cups rice uncooked (or 4 cups cooked rice)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice or lime juice as needed
- ½ teaspoon salt or as needed
- 2 tablespoon oil
- ¾ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 4 tablespoon peanuts or cashews
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder or haldi
- 1 to 2 green chili slit (skip if making for kids)
- 1 sprig curry leaves or kadi patta
- 1 ½ teaspoon chana dal or bengal gram (optional)
- 1 teaspoon urad dal or skinned black gram (Optional)
- 1 pinch hing or asafoetida (optional)
optional ingredients
- ½ tbsp ginger grated or minced or finely chopped
- 2 dried red chilies broken
How to make the recipe
Preparation for lemon rice recipe
- Wash rice a few times and drain the water completely.
- On a low flame cover and cook it in a large pot with 3 cups water.
- The rice must be cooked fully but grainy and not mushy.
- You can also cook it in a pressure cooker by placing the rice bowl in the cooker. Cook for 2 to 3 whistles.
- Cool rice completely. Sprinkle salt, lemon juice and 1 tsp oil evenly over the rice and mix.
- This helps to keep the rice grainy & firm. Mix well and check the salt and lemon juice. Adjust as needed.
How to make lemon rice
- Heat a pan with oil on a medium to low flame.
- When it turns hot, add peanuts or cashews.
- Fry until half done. Add red chili, chana dal and urad dal.
- Fry on a medium flame until the dals turn golden.
- Add mustard & allow to crackle.
- Next add ginger, green chilis and curry leaves.
- When the leaves turn crisp. Add hing and turmeric.
- Do not burn the ginger else it will make the lemon rice bitter.
- Optional step to soften the roasted dals. Pour 2 to 3 tbsp water to the hot seasoning.
- It will evaporate very quickly and soften the dal. You can also add more water to soften the dal.
- Once the water evaporates pour this to the cooled rice. Mix everything well. Keep the rice covered for 20 to 25 mins. This helps the fried dal to soften a bit.
- Serve lemon rice with plain yogurt, papad or pickle.
Video
Video of lemon rice recipe
NUTRITION
Notes
Instant pot lemon rice
1.Wash 1 ½ cups basmati rice at least thrice. Drain and set this aside. Press the saute button. When it displays hot, pour 2 tbsps oil to the inner pot of the instant pot.
2.Then add in 3 to 4 tbsps peanuts or cashews. Also add 1½ tsp chana dal and 1 tsp urad dal. Fry them until lightly golden, then add ¾ tsp mustard seeds, 1 to 2 slit green chilies, 1 sprig curry leaves, sliced ginger & red chilies. Quickly saute until the ginger smells good. Sprinkle a pinch of hing & ¼ tsp turmeric.
3.Immediately pour 2 to 3 tbsp water and deglaze the pot. Scrape off the bits of tempering if any left at the bottom.
4.Cook until the water evaporates & the lentils soften. Remove the seasoning quickly to a plate with a slotted spoon. You can ignore little bit of the seasoning stuff left.
5.Immediately add rice and stir it. Pour 1¾ cups water and add salt. Scrape off the bits of tempering if any left at the bottom. Mix and taste the water. Add more salt if needed.
6.Press cancel button. Secure the lid of the ip with the steam release handle set to sealing position. Press the pressure cook button and set the timer to 5 mins.
7.When the rice is done, wait for natural pressure release for 2 mins. Then place a kitchen towel on the steaming vent & do a quick release.
8.Open the lid and remove the inner pot & set aside. Add the tempering to the rice. When the temperature comes down, squeeze in the lemon juice and gently stir the lemon rice. Do not stir a lot while the rice is hot as it turns mushy. If needed add more lemon juice and salt.
How to make lemon rice recipe
Since this is a simple recipe I had not taken the step by step photos initially. But later I have updated with step by step photos & even with a video. So the main picture is with cashews and step by step pics & video with peanuts.
1. Wash and soak rice in a bowl for at least 15 mins. If you do not have time you can just skip the soaking and cook the rice. On a low flame you can cover & cook rice in a pot with 1:2 ratio (rice:water). or You can also place the rice & water bowl in a pressure cooker and cook for 2 to 3 whistles.
2. Cook the rice to grainy and not mushy. Cool it completely & then fluff up the grains.
3. Sprinkle salt, lemon juice and 1 tsp oil evenly. Mix lightly. Taste the rice add more salt and lemon if needed. Set this aside.
4. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil turns hot set the stove flame to medium. Add peanuts or cashews and roast them until half done or lightly golden.
5. Then add urad dal and chana dal. Saute until lightly golden on a medium flame.
6. Add mustard first and saute until they crackle. Add curry leaves, ginger, green chilies and red chilies.
7. Saute until the curry leaves turn crunchy. Add hing and turmeric. This is an optional step to soften the fried dals. Quickly sprinkle 2 tbsps of water & cook covered. The water will very quickly evaporate and will make the dals slightly soft. You can add more water if needed to soften the dal.
8. When the water evaporate completely, add this to the cooled lemon rice. Mix well.
Serve lemon rice with plain curd.
Soma says
Dear Swasthi,
Thanks for sharing your recipes .
They are easy to understand and I feel like trying them instantly.
I have tried your white chicken korma recipe and it was yummy😊
Keep sharing more please.
swasthi says
Hi Soma,
You are welcome. Thanks for trying the recipes. Glad your korma turned out good. Sorry somehow forgot to reply your comment.
🙂
Ipsita says
Great recipe, reminds of Bangalore days and little kiddo loved it too! Thanks 😊
swasthi says
Welcome Ipsita,
Glad your kid liked it. Thank you!
🙂
Kiran says
Curd rice n lemon rice turned out amazing
My daughter loved it
swasthi says
Thanks Kiran
Cindy says
Hi Swasthi – I have a question. Should used dal that has been boiled already for this recipe? The dal in the pictures looks uncooked so I’m confused. Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Cindy
swasthi says
Hi Cindy,
Yes the dal is not cooked instead roasted in the pan. Roasted dal lends a nutty aroma. This is how it is traditionally made. You can sprinkle 2 to 3 tbsp water (or as needed) to the tempering to soften the dal (step 7). You can also soak them for 15 mins in hot water, drain and use.
Sujeet Rai says
Amazing recepie explained so effectively. As a naive cook I was able to make it and surprise my wife!!!
swasthi says
Thanks for trying
Linda Bonner says
I tried this Lemon Rice at a friend’s home and fell in love with it!!! Where can I find some of the ingredients?? I live in Ottawa.
Thanks so much and thanks for posting this recipe. Best rice dish ever!!
swasthi says
Hi Linda Bonner,
You are welcome. You can find the ingredients is Indian stores. Vaishali super store should be having all of these. Thanks for rating the recipe. Hope you will enjoy making this dish.
SHAILASHRI S KATTIMANI says
Tried this recipe and my husband n his surprise guests were so happy about the test .it was awesome thank you
swasthi says
Welcome Shaila
Very glad to know lemon rice turned out good. Thanks for the comment.
🙂
Amita says
Hi Swasthi,
Thanx for the easy yet delicious recipe. Loved it
swasthi says
Welcome Amita
Thanks for trying.
🙂
Anna says
Swasthi
Love your blog. Lemon rice is my favourite and this turned out good. Thank you
Dace says
Hallo Swasti,
Please tell me, is the dal dry and uncooked?
Does it cook well on pan?
Thanks!
swasthi says
Welcome Dace,
The dal used is dry and uncooked. It will not cook but will get roasted in the pan. This brings a good aroma to the tempering. Hope this helps
Dace says
Thanks Swasti!
sunitha dsilva says
lemon rice i easy and tasty. thanks for the recipe
sunitha dsilva says
lemon rice is easy and tasty.thanks for the recipe.
KarimaSan says
Thanks for d recipe, as i m a hostel girl, icooked in my own way…
I used pistachios as i doesn’t have peanuts, n i used jalepenos instead of dried chili ,n jeera instead of mustard seeds
But the taste turn out nicely…
swasthi says
Welcome Karimasan
Appreciate your interest to cook for yourself.
Thanks for writing
🙂
Swgata Chakraborty says
Lemon rice is one of my favorite dish and i am interested to cook lemon rice. Give me the recipe via mail in hindi.
Revathivignesh says
It came very well mam..thank u
swasthi says
Welcome Revathi
Smith says
Isn’t the dal still hard because it is not cooked only briefly roasted.
Also, the picture has cashews, recipe calls for peanuts, Which is
correct.
swasthi says
Hi Smith
I have mentioned in the post introduction that the main pics were taken some other time when I made it with cashews since I had no peanuts. I updated the post later with step by step photos using peanuts. Traditionally it is made with peanuts, but can be replaced with cashews. Usually lemon rice is allowed to rest for few hours, during this resting time Dals would turn soft. This is how the South Indian lemon rice is made. Hope this helps
Anju baheti says
Lemon rice recipe was very easy to make . Healthy as well as tasty. Thanks
swasthi says
Welcome Anju. Thanks for the feedback
Garima says
I tried and it worked well. Thanks for sharing.
swasthi says
welcome Garima
Astrid says
Thank you so much for this wonderful website! I have cooked already some dishes but regarding the lemon rice, how I fry the urad and chana dal correct without burning?
swasthi says
Welcome Astrid,
I am very happy to know you liked the site. This may help – Rinse the curry leaves and set aside first. Always put the flame on medium to low heat until the dals turn lightly golden. When you add the moist curry leaves, the heat in the pan automatically comes down and prevents the dals from burning. off the Stove. But you will need to guard yourself from the splutters after adding curry leaves, so cover the pan partially and stir. Hope this helps. Appreciate your interest in cooking Indian Food. Thanks and have a nice week ahead.
kanchan Vidhani says
Its just yummy
swasthi says
Thanks Kanchan
Piyali says
The bowl of lemon rice looks lovely. Beautiful pictures, clear explanations, very well written post.
swasthi says
Thanks Piyali