Lemon Rice & Breakfast Ideas

I'm sure everyone is feeling pretty stuffed and sweet after Deepavali and Halloween... :) I know I am. Eventhough this year I didn't feel like making a whole lot of things, I still made 7 cups burfi (always reliable and always yummy) and chaklis and thankfully both came out really well.. and for Diwali dinner we had an elaborate meal with vadai and semia payasam. I trust you all had a lovely celebration.

Coming to the simpler things in life, I can't believe I haven't posted lemon rice on this blog in all these years. This is probably the easiest thing one can whip up... is super quick and anything tangy & spicy is a winner in my book.

Lemon Rice


Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup (I prefer to not use Basmati)
Lemon juice - 3 to 4 tbsp (depends on how tangy and juicy your lemons are)
Channa dhal - 1 tbsp, soaked for abt 15 mins
Dried Peanuts - 2 tbsp (optional)
Dried Red Chillies - 2, broken into bits
Green chillies - 5, slit into two
Curry leaves and coriander leaves
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Hing/asafoetida - a pinch
Mustard seeds, Urad dhal - half tsp each
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
1) Cook rice with about 2 cups of water & a bit of salt (1:2 is what works for the rice I have but this can vary). Ensure the grains are separate and not mushy. When cooked, quickly transfer to a wide, shallow plate and allow to cool.

2) Heat the oil, season with mustard seeds and urad dhal, once the mustard starts popping, add the channa dhal, peanuts, red and g. chillies, curry leaves, hing, turmeric powder and salt. Saute this until they get fried - takes several minutes.

3) Add the cooked and cooled rice to this and mix (I use a spatula) gently until well coated with the seasonings.

4) Switch off the stove and add the lemon juice, stirring well. Finally garnish with coriander leaves.

This tastes best when it has rested for a while and has time for the flavours to marry. Sometimes I add in half of a chopped onion and fry that along with the seasonings for a tasty variation.

Before I sign off, I wanted to share some of my new favorites when it comes to breakfast...

1) Sprout salad with whole wheat bread & egg - Mung sprouts tossed with onion, tomatoes, g. chillies (sometimes i add grated carrots too), lemon juice and salt makes the sprout salad. Something my dad whipped up very often when he was here.


2) Avocado and Tomato Open Faced Sandwich - Toast a whole wheat bread slice until crisp, spread some Maggi hot and sweet sauce on it, then layer with sliced tomatoes, topped with sliced, ripe Hass avocados (so buttery and good), squeeze a few drops of lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper. The crisp toast with the creamy avocado with the tang of tomatoes - so tasty!

My husband, who grimaced at first when I offered him a taste, quickly changed his mind after taking a bite and stole my sandwich.. of course I had more avocados so made myself another one... and forgave him :)

Well, that's for now... will catch up with you all later.