Citrus boosts immunity, energy & mood and aids in detoxification & digestion. This was one of the reasons that lemon rice was traditionally prepared & packed for short travels. Citrus Rice is a healthy non-sticky easy-to-prepare rice dish and hence can be used for packing children’s lunch box also.

Recently I bought unripe citrons (naarthai) for making pickle but found them ripe after a week or more. I was wondering what to do with them as their pulp turned sweet and peel became tender; I just tried adding its juice with lemon juice and it was fantastic. So I have prepared Citrus Rice using lemon & ripe citron as these citruses complement each other; flavorful citron juice & sour lemon juice elevate this simple rice dish to an aromatic tangy delectable rice. Here is the recipe for Citrus Rice:

Time Taken : 30 min

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

1. Lemon (elumicham pazham) – 1 No.
2. Ripe Citron (pazhutha naarthai) – 1 No.
3. Boiled Rice (puzhungal arisi) – 1 cup (200 g)
4. Sesame oil (nallennai) – 1 tbsp (3 tsp)
5. Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
6. Green chillies – 3 Nos.
7. Cashewnuts – 15 Nos.
8. Curry leaves – 3 sprigs
9. Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp
10. Salt – 1 tsp

Cooking Method:

• Cook rice in the method mentioned in an earlier post so that you will get non-sticky soft fluffy rice or pressure cook rice by adding water in the ratio of 1:2 & simmer for 8 min after bringing to high pressure. Please click image below for a method to cook rice as soft as jasmine!

• Extract juice from both citruses, strain through a sieve and keep aside.
• Heat a large flat pan with oil, add mustards, when spluttered add curry leaves, chopped green chillies & cashews and fry them in low medium flame till cashews turn golden.
• Add turmeric & fry in low flame for 5 sec.
• Add cooked rice and mix well in such a way that each grain is coated with turmeric.
• Add salt & citruses juice and gently mix with wooden spatula.
• Citrus rice is ready to serve.

Citrus Rice goes well with potato fry, idli sambar, pottukadalai thuvaiyal, aama vadai, etc. If you are packing this rice for lunch, try potato fry or aama vadai (just soak lentils (100 g) previous night and you can easily prepare vadai in the morning). Please click images below for their recipes.

Please Note:

• Extract juice from both citruses just a while before adding to rice, else it may start to taste bitter.
• You can try this rice with other citruses like sweet lime, orange, etc. or with their combination.
• While adding juice, remove rice from the stove.