How to make Karnataka style Lemon rice
The Chitranna recipe is the Karnataka style lemon rice prepared by mixing cooked rice with a special gojju made of fresh lemon, chillies, and other spices.
Chitrannam is almost like the common lemon rice recipe except for minor differences. The base lemon sauce is usually called gojju. In our place, we had one Udupi restaurant and the lunch plates are famous there. We used to relish their variety of combo plates there and my favorite is their chitranna with raita and simple potato chips.
This onion lemon rice or chitranna with onion is a humble, soothing rice variety that goes well with simple curd, Potato fry, and fryms.
How to make a perfect chitrannam?
A perfect chitranna should be of the right texture with a proper mix of spices and sourness.
The right texture is the well-cooked rice with separate grains, coated with the gojju.
To get the correct amount of tang touch from the lemon, as you may know, we should not cook the chitranna gojju after adding the lemon drops. Cooking citrus fruits leads to losing the essential vitamin C and the taste of the chitranna will become bitter.
Types of lemon rice:
Chitranna gojju can be made with or without onions.
Some use only red chillies and some version use only green chillies.
Similarly, the add-ons are used based on region and personal choice. The add-ons may be like peanuts (roasted sprinkled at last or raw and fried with gojju), cashews and fried coconut bits.
Similar delicious variety rice recipes:
Puli sadham without special powder
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Chitranna recipe | Chitrannam | How to make Karnataka style Lemon rice
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 3 large cups cooked rice
- ½ lemon juice 3tbsp
- 2 tbsp groundnut oil
- ¾ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp gram dal
- ¾ tsp split urad dal
- 3 tbsp roasted peanuts
- 1 tsp chopped ginger
- 2 red chillies
- 1 green chilli
- Few curry leaves
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 pinch asafoetida
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Few coriander leaves
Instructions
Preparation:
- Squeeze the juice of a half lemon. We need around 3 tbsp of lemon juice.
- Chop a half cup of onion and 1 tsp of ginger and keep ready.
Recipe:
- In a pan, heat 3tbsp of groundnut oil.
- Add 3/4 tsp of mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds.
- Let the seeds splutter and add 1 tsp of gram dal and ¾ tsp split urad dal. Saute few seconds till dal becomes golden brown in color.
- Next, add 3 tbsp of roasted groundnuts and saute a few seconds without burning dal.
- Slit one green chili and split two red chillies, add them with 1tsp ginger.
- Add a few fresh curry leaves.
- Add 1/2 cup of chopped onions and saute them until soft. Also, add 1/4 tsp of asafoetida (hing).
- Next add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of salt as per taste.
- Saute for few seconds to dissolve the salt completely.
- Finally, add the juice of half lemon and switch off the stove immediately.
- Sprinkle few chopped coriander leaves for freshness.
- Cooking further may make the lemon juice bitter.
- Now add three cups of cooked rice and mix thoroughly.
- Leave this undisturbed for atleast 30 minutes before serving so that the rice gets all the flavor of lemon juice along with spices.
Video
Notes
1) Do not cook the sauce after adding lemon juice to avoid bitterness.
2) Use well cooked but non-mushy rice for mixing. Leftover rice also works well as long as it doesn't become rough.
3) You can also use cashew nuts with peanuts or cashews in place of peanuts.
Nutrition
Preparation:
- Squeeze the juice of a half lemon. We need around 3 tbsp of lemon juice.
- Chop a half cup of onion and 1 tsp of ginger and keep ready.
- We need three large cups of well-cooked and cooled rice. You may use leftover rice.
Recipe:
- In a pan, heat 3tbsp of groundnut oil. Add 3/4 tsp of mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds.
- Let the seeds splutter and add 1 tsp of gram dal and ¾ tsp split urad dal. Saute few seconds till dal becomes golden brown in color.
- Next, add 3 tbsp of roasted groundnuts and saute a few seconds without burning dal. If using raw peanuts fry in medium heat for few more minutes until they are crisp and brown.
- Slit one green chili and split two red chillies, add them with 1tsp ginger.
- Add a few fresh curry leaves.
- Add 1/2 cup of onions and saute them until soft. Also, add 1/4 tsp of asafoetida (hing).
- Next add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of salt as per taste. Saute for few seconds to dissolve the salt completely.
- Finally, add the juice of a half lemon and switch off the stove immediately.
- Sprinkle few chopped coriander leaves for freshness.
- Cooking further may make the lemon juice bitter.
- Now add three cups of well-cooked and cooled rice and mix thoroughly.
- Leave this undisturbed for atleast 30 minutes before serving so that the rice gets all the flavor of lemon juice along with spices.
Tips:
1) Do not cook the sauce after adding lemon juice to avoid bitterness.
2) Use well-cooked but non-mushy rice for mixing. Leftover rice also works well as long as it doesn’t become rough.
3) You can also use cashew nuts with peanuts or cashews in place of peanuts.
