LEMON RICE

Lemon rice is also popularly called as Pulihora (in telugu) or Puliyodhara or Chitrannam (in kannada) and is a very common preparation in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Indian cuisine. Puli actually means sour taste and Pulihora is referred to as sour rice.

 

This dish is specially made of lemon juice or can also be made of tamarind juice. In the North coastal part of Andhra Pradesh, people used to call it Saddi but younger generations may not know this name. It is made with tamarind, a very popular ingredient that gives a tangy flavor and commonly used in most of the dishes in southern India.

 

Lemon rice or the Pulihora is considered one of the main dishes as prasadam in temples and hindu festivals. This prasadam is normally packed in covers and given to all the devotees standing in queue after having the darshan of God. The festival of Seetha Rama Kalyanam is one big occasion where the huge packets of pulihora or lemon rice are distributed to the devotees.

 

Normally this dish is also prepared when they have the annadaanam (that’s free distribution of food for the poor). Lemon rice tastes sour, spicy hot and salty at the same time. It is considered to be a good stimulant for a dead tongue. It is easy and inexpensive to cook and is good stomach filler.

 

As Hindus consider turmeric powder as a symbol of auspiciousness, this dish is cooked for almost all good occasions and during festive days. Lemon Rice is a delicious South Indian dish that can be easily or swiftly put together when in a hurry. You can also make it with leftover rice.

 

Serve Lemon Rice with a Raita (yogurt salad) and Pappadums for a simple yet tasty meal. Normally when you have guests for dinner and it’s inevitable that you would have few dishes that are leftovers – especially the rice. Indian cuisine especially is very good in this regard owing to the fact that rice is a staple and most often happens we end up eating the leftovers.

 

So to avoid this you can make this yummy delicious traditional lemon rice and serve it as breakfast. Lemon rice is a classic dish made not only during festive occasions like Pongal but also on a day to day basis. This dish is also a very easy dish to be packed for lunch box or else you could also find many travelers carrying the lemon rice during travel as it does not get spoilt easily.

 

I am sure there are many who would remember their childhood days when this dish was being packed for lunch box along with spicy roasted potatoes. Be it the lunch box or prasadam in temples, part of festival feast, Chitrannam or lemon rice plays an important part of South Indian meal. Our celebratory feasts are not complete without this particular dish.

 

The tangy rice prepared with lemon juice refreshes the palate after the sweet beginnings, as you may already know it is an Indian tradition to serve the sweet first. I think serving these two, traditional Indian sweet and chitrannam together is our elder’s way of reminding us to appreciate life moments, both sweet and sour.

 

To prepare this traditional lemony rice, pick, wash and soak rice for about thirty minutes. Drain and then boil in plenty of boiling salted water until almost done. Drain and keep aside. Heat oil/ ghee in a shallow pan or kadai.

Add a pinch of asafetida, mustards seeds. When they crackle add dried red chillies broken into two, urad dal, chana dal and ginger and nuts. Cook until dals change color to light brown and then add curry leaves.

 

Mix turmeric powder in this. Stir fry for half a minute. Add cooked rice, salt and lemon juice. Garnish with coriander. Usually during festival people crave for this lemony rice. In every family there is always one expert who prepares the best lemon rice.

What about you, are you the chosen one? Try it out, if you have not already done so. Check this and click at:

 

Lemon rice

 Author : Admin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe of Lemon rice

 

 

Ingredient Name	Unit	Quantity
cashew nuts	grams	10
channa dal	grams	10
cooked rice	grams	100
coriander leaves	springs	1
curry leaves	springs	1
ginger	slice	1
gr chilli	grams	5
hing ( asafotida	pinch	1
lemon juice	ml	20
mustard seeds	grams	5
oil	ml	10
peanuts	grams	10
red chilli	grams	5
turmeric	pinch	1
urad dal	grams	10

Directions | How to make Lemon Rice

Pick , waash and soak rice for about 30 minutes. Drain and then boil in plenty of boiling salted water until almost done. Drain and keep aside. Heat oil/ghee in a shallow pan or a kadai. Add a pinch of asafoetida. mustardsAdd dried red chillies broken into two, urad dal, chana dal and ginger and nuts. Cook until dals change colour to light brown. then add curry leaves. Mix turmeric powder in this. Stir fry for half a minute. Add cooked rice, salt and lemon juice. Garnish with coriander . .