Lemon Rice (Chitranna) is a popular South Indian rice preparation where cooked rice is flavored with lemon juice and a few more simple ingredients. Try my easy recipe here (vegan, can be easily made gluten-free).
Here are some more rice recipes that you may like – Tahri, Ellu Sadam, Kerala Style Ghee Rice, Indian Black Pepper Rice, Green Mango Rice, Palak Rice, and Turmeric Rice.
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About Lemon Rice
Lemon Rice (Chitranna) is a traditional South Indian rice preparation where cooked rice is flavored with lemon juice and tempered with peanuts, curry leaves, and a few more simple ingredients.
It is very easy to make, needs basic pantry ingredients, and comes together in under 15 minutes.
Lemon rice is a great recipe to utilize the leftover rice.
Serve it for a comforting meal or pack it for office or school lunch boxes. You can also serve it as a side dish with festive South Indian meals.
This recipe is vegan and can be easily made gluten-free. You can easily double or triple it too.
Ingredients
Rice – Sona Masuri is the preferred choice to make lemon rice. Having said that, you can use any white short-grain nonsticky rice or basmati rice as well.
Cook the rice beforehand and make sure to cool it down completely before stir-frying it with other ingredients. Day-old rice is perfect to make this recipe.
Oil – Traditionally, chitranna is made using sesame oil. You can also use ghee or any vegetable oil as a substitute.
Lemon Juice – This is the star ingredient of this dish. It adds a nice subtle tangy taste with a refreshing flavor. You can replace lemon juice with lime juice too.
Peanuts & Cashews – Adds a nice crunch.
Curry Leaves – Adds a subtle flavor and aroma. Make sure to use fresh green curry leaves.
Green Chillies – You can adjust the quantity to suit your taste.
Others – You will also need black mustard seeds, split and skinned black lentils (white urad dal), Bengal gram lentils (chana dal), dry red chilies, asafetida (hing), salt, and turmeric powder.
Skip adding asafoetida to make it gluten-free.
How To Make Lemon Rice
Heat 2 tablespoon sesame oil in a pan over medium heat.
Once the oil is hot, add ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon white urad dal, and 1 teaspoon chana dal, and saute until the dals are lightly browned, stirring continuously.
Add 2 green chilies (slit into half), 3-4 dry red chiles (stalks removed), 10-12 curry leaves, and ½ teaspoon asafetida, and saute for 10-12 seconds.
Add ¼ cup peanuts and 6-8 cashew nuts and saute for 40-60 seconds until the nuts are slightly browned, stirring continuously.
Now add ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and saute for 10-12 seconds.
Add 2 cups of cooked and cooled rice, 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (or lime juice), and 1 teaspoon salt, and mix well.
Reduce the heat to low.
Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Check for salt and add more if required. Serve hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Spread the hot cooked rice on a baking tray in a thin layer. Now cover the tray with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze for 15 minutes to cool down the rice quickly.
Serving Suggestions
Lemon rice is best served with pickle and papad on the side.
You can also serve a raita of your choice along with it.
It is a great dish to pack for school or office lunch boxes.
Chitranna is also served as a side dish with South Indian festive meals.
Storage Suggestions
Lemon rice will easily last for 3-4 days when stored in an air-tight container, in the refrigerator.
Reheat in a pan or microwave until nice and hot, before serving.
Splash some water before heating if the rice looks dry.
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Recipe Card
South Indian Lemon Rice Recipe (Chitranna)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil (or any other cooking oil)
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon split and skinned black lentils (white urad dal)
- 1 teaspoon Bengal gram lentils (chana dal)
- 2 green chilies (slit into half)
- 3-4 dry red chilies (stalks removed)
- 10-12 curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon asafetida (hing) (skip for gluten-free)
- ¼ cup peanuts
- 6-8 cashew nuts
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 cups cooked and cooled rice
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (or lime juice)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, and chana dal, and saute until the dals are lightly browned, stirring continuously.
- Add green chilies, dry red chiles, curry leaves, and asafetida, and saute for 10-12 seconds.
- Add peanuts and cashew nuts and saute for 40-60 seconds until the nuts are slightly browned, stirring continuously.
- Now add turmeric powder and saute for 10-12 seconds.
- Add rice, lemon juice, and salt, and mix well.
- Reduce the heat to low.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Check for salt and add more if required. Serve hot.
Preetha Soumyan
No words to say about the clicks.. and the lemon rice looks fantastic
Gayathri Sathyanarayanan
Tempting lemon rice.nice clicks.
Speed, Testera
This really looks delicious. I wonder how it taste.
Neha Mathur
It tastes delicious. Do try it once.
Elina Sellgren
Hi! I am going to try this recipe tomorrow!
I have been wondering why Indian recipes, such as this one, sometimes use dal uncooked in small quantities? Is it for the texture or taste?
Another question: why is coriander powder and whole coriander seeds used both? As far as I understand, the powder is made of the seeds. Do they taste different in different form?
Neha Mathur
Hi Elina,
The uncooked dal is added for texture. I personally like them a lot. Some people also soak them before using them in tempering. If you do not like crispy dal coming into your mouth, you can soak them in water for 15 minutes. In some recipes, coriander seeds and powder both are used for different tastes and textures, although coriander powder is made from seeds themselves.
shyamlen
nice recipe!!! I am going to make it today. I can’t wait!