Basmati Lemon Rice

While working on an aquafaba-based soufflé cake, I was relying on Cafe Spice’s Channa Masala with Basmati Lemon Rice. I will continue to buy it when I can! But after so many purchases, I needed to enjoy it at ⅕ the price.

Inauthentic

My basmati lemon rice is a copycat recipe. And although I copied an authentic Indian product with authentic Indian ingredients from an authentic Indian grocery store, I could never claim anything I do to be authentically Indian.

I can claim conducting research from authentic Indian bloggers however! My ingredients came from the Cafe Spice package; my techniques, mainly from:

• Padma Veeranki, Masala Korb: Lemon Rice Nimmakaya Pulihora
• Dassana Amit, Dassana’a Veg Recipes: Lemon Rice Recipe (Chitranna)

Why didn’t you…

add peanuts? use more dal or mustard seeds?

There are plenty of ways to finish this question! The answer is that I recreated a product I love, not a tradition of my own. And since there are no peanuts in my prototype, for instance, there are none in my recreation either.

Should I rinse my rice?

TL; DR – yes, briefly.

I finally tested some advice I encountered years ago:

If your rice came from a burlap sack, rinse it; plastic bag, don’t.

I no longer recall who told me that, but I trusted them enough to follow these words blindly for decades! Now, I can confidently say that it’s true – and that rice rinsing isn’t the 20-minute task I thought it was.

Even plastic bagged – Read: likely prerinsed. – rice benefits from a brief, 2-minute swishing. Rinsed rice is not only more uniformly white, but also easier to fluff!

Make Basmati Lemon Rice a Meal

I copied the Channa Masala by Cafe Spice too.

Print Recipe

Basmati Lemon Rice

Author: Does It Vegan? Cooking Method: Boiling, Juicing (Reaming), Mixing, Sautéeing, Shallow- or Pan-Frying, Simmering, Slicing, Soaking, Straining, Whisking Cuisine: Indian, Southern Indian Category: Savory Meals

Description

"Why didn't you add peanuts? or use more dal and/or mustard seeds?"

These are but a few fair questions! The answer to them all is that I recreated a product I love, not a tradition of my own.

serves 2-4

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tsp (7.5 mL/6 g) chana dal (yellow split peas)
• 1 ½ tsp (7.5 mL/6 g) urad dal (Substitute the same amount of chana dal if necessary.)
• about 1 ¾ cups (396 mL/g) water, divided
• 1 cup (240 mL/180 g) basmati rice
• 1 tsp (5 mL/g) canola oil
• ⅛ tsp (0.63 mL) brown mustard seeds
• 1 dried whole red chili
• 1 lemon
• 1 ½ tsp (7.5 mL) kosher salt (or about half as much table salt)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) dried ground turmeric

Instructions

1. Combine both dals in a sm bowl. Cover with about ¼ cup (56 mL/g) boiling water, then set aside to soak approximately 20-30 min.

   Mark as complete

2. Meanwhile, set rice in a sieve under cool running water. Gently jostle with fingers 1-3 min, until water runs clearer (not necessarily clear). Place into a med pot.

   Mark as complete

3. Pour exactly 1 ½ cups (340 mL/g) water over rice. Bring to boiling. Cover and reduce heat to lo, then cook 15 min. Remove from heat and allow to rest 10 min.

   Mark as complete

4. Uncover and fluff rice with a fork, then evenly spread on a baking sheet to cool. Wipe pot clean in preparation for Step 6.

   Mark as complete

5. Drain dals. Spread on a kitchen towel or double layer of paper towels, then pat dry and set aside.

   Mark as complete

6. In reserved pot, heat oil over med heat. Sprinkle in mustard seeds and wait 1-2 min, until they crackle, then transfer in dals. Finally, add chili and saute 2-3 min, until everything is fragrant and toasted. Take off heat and set aside.

   This seasoned oil and toasted dal is called the tempering.
   Mark as complete

7. Juice lemon as tempering slightly cools. Whisk salt and turmeric into lemon juice, then whisk seasoned lemon juice into tempering. Discard chili.

   Mark as complete

8. Return rice to pot and mix well. Wait about 10-15 min, or as long as it takes to make chana masala, for flavors to meld before serving.

   Keep your pot uncovered during this step.
   Mark as complete

Note

Serve with chana masala!

Keywords: chana masala, channa masala, basmati rice, lemon rice, basmati lemon rice, Cafe Spice, Cafe Spice Channa Masala, Cafe Spice Channa Masala with Basmati Lemon Rice, copycat recipes