South Indian Lemon Rice
By: Vijaya Selvaraju
South Indian Lemon Rice
By: Vijaya Selvaraju
Directions
- Place rice in a bowl. Add lukewarm water to cover, and gently massage grains with fingers until water turns cloudy. Drain, and repeat until water is no longer cloudy. Then cover with more warm water, and allow to soak for a minimum of 20 minutes, or up to 30 minutes. This will prevent the rice from breaking as it cooks.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add soaked rice and cook for 8 minutes or until the rice is "al dente". You want the rice to be long and unbroken, and still have a little bit of bite to it.
- Drain rice in a colander, and transfer to a baking sheet. Spread rice out and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Combine the lemon juice, turmeric, and salt in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve salt and set aside.
- In a small saucepan heat oil on medium-high heat, and add split black gram, mustard seeds and hing, and allow to pop for a few seconds. Then add chillies, split dried chickpeas, and curry leaves. Once the curry leaves sputter, transfer immediately to rice.
- Allow time for the mixture to cool down, and then drizzle Lemon/Turmeric Mixture all over rice. Using your hands, gently fold the rice into all the ingredients, ensuring not to break the grains.
- Last but not least, fold in some fried cashews. Enjoy!
