South Indian Lemon Rice with Peanuts and Curry Leaves
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats and America's Test Kitchen.
Fluffy turmeric-tinted basmati tossed with fresh lemon juice, crisp fried peanuts and a crackling tempering of dals, mustard seeds, curry leaves and chillies. Tangy, nutty and fragrant, it works warm or at room temperature.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Rinse and soak. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, cover with cold water and soak for 20 minutes, then drain well. Removing surface starch and pre-soaking helps the grains cook up long, separate and fluffy rather than sticky.
- 2
Cook the rice. Put the rice in the saucepan with the 450 ml water, salt and 0.5 tsp turmeric, bring to a boil, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes until the water is absorbed. Rest off the heat, still covered, for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Resting lets the steam finish cooking the grains evenly and firms them up so they do not break when mixed.
- 3
Fry the peanuts. Heat the oil in the large frying pan over medium heat, add the peanuts and fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until golden and crisp. Lift them onto the plate with the slotted spoon. Frying them first, on their own, gives the peanuts room to crisp evenly, and the oil picks up a lovely nutty flavour for the tempering.
- 4
Temper the spices. With the heat turned to medium-low, add the chana dal, urad dal and mustard seeds to the oil and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring, until the seeds pop and the dals turn light golden. Add the asafoetida and 0.5 tsp turmeric for 10 seconds, then carefully add the curry leaves and dried chillies, which will splatter, and fry for 30 seconds until crisp. Take off the heat and add the green chillies. Lower heat lets the dals toast to a crunchy golden without the spices burning.
- 5
Fold together. Add the rice, lemon juice and peanuts to the pan and fold gently with a spatula until every grain is yellow. Lift and turn rather than stir, so the grains stay whole. Serve warm or at room temperature with lemon wedges; the lemon juice goes in off the heat so it stays fresh and zingy.
Storage
Cool quickly, refrigerate within 1 hour and use within 24 hours. Reheat once only until piping hot (74°C), or enjoy chilled from the fridge on the same day.
EU nutrition claims
- Low sugars: 2.4 g sugars per 100 g (limit ≤ 5 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 85 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
0.5 g per serving
1 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 2 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- sieve
- bowl
- medium saucepan with a tight lid
- large frying pan or wok (30 cm)
- slotted spoon
- plate
- fork
- spatula
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 493 kcal |
| Protein | 11.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 68.5 g |
| of which sugars | 2 g |
| of which free sugars | 0.5 g |
| Fat | 19.7 g |
| of which saturates | 9.8 g |
| Fibre | 3.5 g |
| Salt | 1.47 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
2.3 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
