Simple South Indian Lemon Rice Recipe - Spiced Up Mom (2024)

I love the food of Southern India and lemon rice is one of my most favorites. It’s tangy, spicy and incredibly easy to make. Found both in homes and on the menus of fancy restaurants, lemon rice is simple food that can also be quite impressive.

This quick and easy lemon rice recipe can be made using both fresh or leftover rice. Leftover day-old rice is my preference. Using leftover rice not only helps cut down on food wastage (can you believe Americans waste 35 million tons of food every year?!) but it also ensures that your rice grains remain separate and don’t get mushy.

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I love this dish so much that I usually throw a few extra cups of rice in the rice cooker just to ensure there is plenty of rice left over, giving me the excuse I need to enjoy this for lunch the next day. {My son loves rice but doesn’t really love lemon rice. He’ll eat it if I make it but I think the tanginess of the lemon is a flavor his tongue hasn’t quite developed a taste for. I have no doubt that’ll change.}

Although this dish is really simple to make and takes very minimal time, if you’re new to Indian cooking it might seem a bit overwhelming.

Curry leaves. Dals. Asafoetida.

I understand that these are not things most people have stocked in their kitchen, although I hope to help change that (even a little!) eventually. These ingredients are readily available at any Indian market and can be found in a lot of Asian markets, too. I also recommend checking the bulk bins at your local grocery store or co-op. They sometimes stock spices and dals (lentils), allowing you to buy smaller quantities at a time.

I’ve linked to some of the more uncommon ingredients in the recipe below. Simply click the link and be taken to Amazon for more info.

Some recipes for lemon rice call for using a proper tadka, or tempering the spices and then adding to the rice afterwards. I sometimes do it this way, but more often than not I just do everything in one pan–adding the rice at the end.

Before adding the rice to the pan, it’s important to break it up a bit. I usually use my rice paddleand sort of stab it around in the bowl. It’s okay to have a few small clumps of rice, but you don’t want to add large hunks of rice to the pan.

When adding the rice, I don’t just dump the bowl into the pan. I use my hands and sort of sprinkle the rice over the lemon juice-masala mixture. This helps ensure the rice is well separated and no large clumps were missed. I want every grain to soak up as much flavor as possible.

Lemon rice can be served on its own or alongside other dishes. I like to serve it with dry veg dishes like green beans poriyalor potato subzi. Even though it’s definitely not a traditional pairing, my favorite way to eat lemon rice is as a side dish to tandoori chicken. It’s also an amazing accompaniment to piping hot vadas and fresh, homemade coconut chutney. {I hope to get those recipes up here soon! }

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As always, if you make the recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Let me know in the comments below.