Lemon Rice is a Great Way To Liven Up Your Plain Rice
This lemon rice makes regular appearances alongside so much of my main meal cooking, For the final lemon touch, adding both the lemon juice and the zest to the cooking water at the start of the cooking process makes the rice absorb the subtle flavours of the lemon. To start, take some oil and place some red chillis, fry them and get the flavours into the oil that gives it a little bit of punch to what we need for the lemon rice in this, we are going to add some mustard seeds.
The mustard seed also has a splatter. For lemon rice, we need to cook rice and make sure it is not mushy, the rice needs to be fluffy and fluffy rice is best for this preparation. So to make the lemon rice, add red chillis and then mustard seeds, make sure they crackle, otherwise, if they don’t crackle, they will taste a little bitter.
Add a little cumin seeds and then you can add some peanuts or cashew nuts, if you are adding both peanuts and cashew nuts, have peanuts first because cashew nuts take hardly a few seconds to cook whereas peanuts take more time to cook. Cook for a few minutes then add cashew nuts, cook until the cashew nuts get a light golden colour. Add chopped ginger and sliced green chilli then add the lemon juice to taste good.
For the final lemon touch, adding both the lemon juice and the zest to the cooking water at the start of the cooking process makes the rice absorb the subtle flavours of the lemon. Rinse rice under the tap using a colander then combine all ingredients in a pot and let it cook. If you are using a rice cooker, just press the ‘white rice’ button.
If you are using the stovetop method, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lemon rice from the heat and let stand for another 10 minutes before fluffing it with a fork.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 green onions, white parts only, cut into thin rounds (reserve green parts for garnish)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup long-grain rice
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup half & half
- Juice of 1 lemon
- chopped fresh dill, for garnish
- chopped green onions, for garnish
Instructions;
- Melt butter and heat olive oil in a nonstick pan.
- Add onions and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in garlic and lemon zest; continue to cook and stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add rice; season with turmeric, salt, and pepper, and cook and stir for 1 minute.
- Stir in vegetable broth, half & half, and lemon juice.
- Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer; cover the pan and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the liquid has evaporated.
- Remove from heat.
- Fluff with a fork and taste for seasonings; adjust accordingly.
- Garnish with dill and green onions.