Lemon Rice Recipe – Chitranna or Nimmakaya Pulihora

Lemon Rice/chitranna/Nimmakaya Pulihora is a crunchy, spiced, lemon-y rice dish that is quick and easy to make and tastes amazing! It is a dish originating from the south of India, particularly Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and is perfect to consume for breakfast lunch or dinner!

What is Lemon rice?

Lemon rice is a staple in most south Indian households, as it was in mine. We usually make it when we want a quick dish and have some leftover rice available. With just a few ingredients, this dish comes to life in no time. It has a slight tanginess from the lemon juice, aromas from the mustard seeds and curry leaves and crunchiness from the peanuts, cashews and roasted lentils.

This dish is perfect for beginners since its easy and very forgiving.

In India, his dish a very common travel food. My mum used to always pack some lemon rice with pickle, that we used to enjoy in our train journeys. The addition of turmeric and lack of soggy ingredients makes this dish stay good for a long time.

How to make Lemon rice?

Here is the step-by-step guide to making this dish.

1. Start by measuring out 1 cup of rice and cooking it. You can also use leftover rice, in which case, measure out 3-4 cups of it for this recipe.

2. Let the rice cool down, then heat up some oil in a pan. Make sure it’s on medium low heat.

3. Add mustard seeds to this and let it crackle.

3. Then add the chana dal and urad dal. Fry until the dals turns golden. Do not let it burn.

4. Then add peanuts to it and let that sauté a bit (about 40 seconds) then add cashews to it.

5. Then add the chopped green chilies and curry leaves.

6. Finally add the asafoetida and turmeric powder and turn off the heat. Mix very well.

7. To this, add the cooked and cooled rice, lemon juice, salt and mix very well so that everything is well combines.

6. Cover the pan for the flavors come together for 4 to 5 minutes. and then serve the lemon rice with some spicy Indian pickle and pappad. You can also garnish with chopped coriander/cilantro leaves.

Let me know if you give this easy Lemon Rice recipe a try! Tag me aka @beextravegant on Instagram if you post it, so I can see it.

Try other breakfast/snack items from the blog:

• Vegetable Upma Recipe
• Khaman dhokla recipe
• Paniyaram recipe- shallow fried, spiced rice and lentil balls
• Vegan Yoghurt Toast – Spicy
• Tofu masala sandwich