If you are from a south Indian household, then you would have grown up eating lemon rice every week or so. I definitely had lemon rice very often in my lunch box. It is so easy to put together espicially on a busy weekday morning, no wonder my mom packed it for lunch so often.
Lemon rice is so fragrant, tasty and tangy, that you don’t need a lot to go with it. Just a side of chips, papad or potato sabzi, you are all set for a comforting and simple meal.
I also have fond memories of eating lemon rice, tamarind rice or coconut rice in temples, where they are commonly offered as a prasad (offerings to god). They always tasted divine to me. But I must admit I prefer the spicier tamarind rice to lemon or coconut rice. But when I make it at home, I amp up the green chillies in my lemon rice to make it spicy enough for my liking and I have to say it gives a tough competition to my favorite puliyodharai.
It was very common to pack lemon rice while travelling. Variety rices like lemon rice or puliyodharai is one of the most popular travel / picnic food for us south Indians. They are not sticky and you dont need fancy cutlery or serveware to eat it. Since they taste good on their own, they are perfect travel food.
My mom always used to make lemon rice with carrots or capsicum, sometimes both. The flavour of capsicum combined with the tangy and fragrant lemons, spicy chillies is a deadly combination. Also bonus points for sneaking in veggies. I follow my mom and do the same when I pack this for my little one or hubby. Also the carrots have to be grated ( dont bother, if you are adding chopped carrots 🙂 We always had it grated! ) Also finish it off with some roasted peanuts for crunch.
If you haven’t tasted lemon rice with capsicum or carrots, trust me and give it a try. You will not make it again without it. It is worth the extra 5 minutes, you put in prepping the veggies and instant pot makes cooking the rice so much easier, so you can do this when the rice is cooking. I cant stress this enough, this Instant pot lemon rice is so easy!
This instant pot lemon rice is not only easy, if you have the puliyodharai spice mix or coconut rice mix ready, you can make 3 rice dishes with the cooked rice. I have already posted the recipe for tamarind (puliyodharai spice mix) in the blog. Take half of the cooked rice and use it for tamarind rice or coconut rice or just use everything for lemon rice. Let’s jump to the recipe now
Instant pot version of South Indian style rice dish where rice is cooked with green chillies, mustard seeds, chana dal, peanuts and lemon.
-
1
cup
white rice
-
1
tbsp
chana dal
-
1
tsp
urad dal
- 2 green chillies slit (use more or less as per spice levels)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
-
2
pinches
asafoetida
- Juice from 1 big lemon
- 1 capsicum / bellpepper chopped fine (otpional)
- 2 carrots grated
- 2 to 3 tbsp peanuts (roasted)
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro / coriander leaves for garnish
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (can substitute it with other neutral tasting oils)
-
Wash the rice 2 to 3 times until it runs clear and soak the rice for 30 minutes.
-
Switch on the saute mode in your instant pot and when it heats up add the oil, mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder, asafoetida and let the mustard seeds splutter.
-
Add the soaked rice, 1 tsp salt, 1 & 3/4 cup water and cook on manual high for 6 minutes. Release pressure after 6 minutes.
-
Open up and let it rest for couple of minutes and fluff up the rice with a fork.
-
Now if you are adding carrots and capsicum, remove the rice to a separate bowl and add a tsp of oil to the instant pot. (No need to wash the pot)
-
Add the veggies (carrots and capsicum) and saute until the capsiums turn a little soft. You can add a pinch of salt to help cook fast.
-
Now add the rice to this mix well. (If you are not adding the veggies, you can proceed to the next step directly. No need to do the previous 2 steps)
-
Add the juice from 1 lemon and adjust salt accordingly. Garnish with chopped cilantro and roasted peanuts.
-
Serve with a side of chips/ papad.
- Can add roasted cashews instead of peanuts or skip it like I have done.
- Chana dal and urad dal gives the dish a nice crunch. It is recommended not to skip it.
- Can use jalepenos, or serrano chillies instead of green chillies.
- Can use brown rice too. But adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- We don’t usually use basmati rice for this dish. But if thats what you have, you could use that too.
If you tried this Instant pot Lemon rice recipe and liked it, do share a picture with the hashtag #cookingwithpree on Instagram or Facebook. Would love to know what you guys have been cooking
Looking for more Instant pot or Vegan reicpes? Check out Pinterest boards for inspration. Happy cooking!
Looks delicious but like you, I too prefer the Puliyodhare over Lemon Rice. Haha. Spicy and delicious.