To begin making the Lemon Rice Recipe (Elumichai Sadam/Chitranna), make sure you have some cooked rice ready. It helps using a day old rice as the grains will be separated out well.

Keep the remaining ingredients handy, as this recipe will be made in a jiffy.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan or kadai, add the mustard seeds, the urad dal and peanuts. Allow them to crackle and the dal and the peanuts to get roasted well until it gets a golden brown color. Do this on low to medium heat else they will get brown faster than you want them to and the peanuts will remain raw.

Once the dal is golden brown and roasted, add the curry leaves, ginger, green chillies, turmeric powder and stir for a few seconds.

Add the cooked rice, sprinkle some salt and give it a good stir until all the ingredients have combined well and the rice gets well coated. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and allow the lemon rice to steam along with the seasonings for a couple of minutes.

After a couple of minutes, squeeze the lemon juice and give the rice a good stir. Check the salt and spice levels and adjust to suit your taste.

Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Serve the Lemon Rice (Elumichai Sadam/Chitranna) along with papad and tomato onion raita, or plain yogurt.