Lemon Rice
Cold rice folded through a tempering of dal, peanuts and curry leaves, with the lemon squeezed in off the heat so it stays sharp.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- 15m
- Total
- 25m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 3 tbsp | Temper until the mustard seeds crackle and the dals turn the colour of straw 6m Order matters. Mustard first, then the dals and peanuts, then the leaves, then turmeric off the heat. | Fold the rice through the tempering, then take the pan off the heat and squeeze in the lemon 5m Off the heat. Boiled lemon juice tastes dull and faintly bitter. | |
| 1 1/2 tsp | |||
| 1 tbsp | |||
| 1 tbsp | |||
| 1/3 cup | |||
| 2 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 15 | |||
| 1/4 tsp | |||
| 3/4 tsp | |||
| 4 cups | Spread cooked rice on a tray to cool so the grains separate 10m Warm rice clumps and breaks as you fold. Cool rice does not. | ||
| 1 1/2 tsp | |||
| 3 tbsp | |||
| a handful |
-
Temper until the mustard seeds crackle and the dals turn the colour of straw
6m- sesame oil 3 tbsp
- mustard seeds 1 1/2 tsp
- chana dal 1 tbsp
- urad dal 1 tbsp
- raw peanuts 1/3 cup
- dried red chillies 2
- green chillies 2
- curry leaves 15
- asafoetida 1/4 tsp
- ground turmeric 3/4 tsp
Order matters. Mustard first, then the dals and peanuts, then the leaves, then turmeric off the heat.
-
Spread cooked rice on a tray to cool so the grains separate
10m- cooked basmati or sona masoori rice 4 cups
- salt 1 1/2 tsp
Warm rice clumps and breaks as you fold. Cool rice does not.
-
Fold the rice through the tempering, then take the pan off the heat and squeeze in the lemon
5m- from 1 Temper until the mustard seeds crackle and the dals turn the colour of straw
- from 2 Spread cooked rice on a tray to cool so the grains separate
- lemon juice 3 tbsp
- coriander leaves a handful
Off the heat. Boiled lemon juice tastes dull and faintly bitter.
Why the turmeric goes in off the heat
Turmeric is mostly starch and its colour compound, curcumin, scorches quickly in hot oil — it turns brown and takes on a dusty bitterness. Cutting the heat first lets the residual warmth bloom it into the oil without pushing it past that point. The lemon follows the same rule for a different reason. Citric acid is stable, but the aromatic oils in the juice are volatile and vanish in a hot pan, so the difference between adding it on and off the heat is the difference between sour rice and lemon rice.
Notes
- Sesame oil is not interchangeable here. It is the background note the whole dish sits on.
- Peanuts should go in early enough to fry through. Underdone ones are soft and disappointing.
- Better after twenty minutes standing. It is a lunchbox dish for good reason.