Lemon rice

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 ½ cups Basmati
• 1 coconut
• 2 lemons, untreated
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 handful of cashew nuts and almonds
• 1 ½ tbsp mustard seeds
• 2 chili peppers
• 1 tbsp ghee
• Salt
• possibly mint

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 20 minutes

Indian rice specialty

First, it’s a good idea to put the rice on the stovetop. Combine one and a half cups of rice and about twice as much water in a pot. Then add the turmeric, a pinch of salt, and grated lemon zest. Also add the juice of one lemon to the pot. Bring the contents to a boil over relatively high heat, then reduce the heat almost to 0. This allows the rice to simmer gently without burning the pot. After two-thirds of the cooking time, you can turn off the stove completely; the rice will still cook. Once the rice is simmering, open the coconut and collect the coconut milk. Grate the flesh and add it to the collected coconut milk (if you don’t have a fresh coconut, you can also soak dry coconut flakes in water or canned coconut milk). Roast the nuts in a nonstick pan without any fat (nuts have plenty of natural fat) until they are nicely browned. But be careful, once the pan is really hot, the nuts will quickly become too dark. Then set the nuts aside. Now roast the mustard seeds, this time with the tablespoon of ghee. You can also add the chopped chilies. I always use the moment when the mustard seeds open and jump around as a guideline; the aroma should also be pleasant. Alternatively, I have found that sesame oil works well instead of ghee. Towards the end of the rice’s cooking time, add the other ingredients: the desiccated coconut, preferably with the coconut milk, the roasted nuts, and the chili-mustard seed mixture. Carefully fold in, heat through, and season with lemon juice and salt. Finally, garnish with fresh lemon slices or mint leaves to serve. Makes an excellent refreshing side dish to other Indian dishes.