Turmeric Lemon Rice Recipe. 10 minute Golden Rice with turmeric, lemon and mustard seeds. Indian Lemon Rice. Use cooked brown rice, quinoa, millet or couscous or cauliflower rice for variation. Easy side. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe. Pin this post.
This super easy flavorful rice is a great side with simple dals, veggie curries or anything really. I posted a bowl with the Mango Dal, Bengali Veggies with the turmeric rice last week and got many requests for the turmeric lemon rice recipe. So here goes.
TGIF! Make this 10 minute lemony turmeric rice. Or use other cooked grains or cauliflower. I usually use Basmati Rice or a mix of white and brown basmati. Add veggies along the way or just make the plain rice and serve in a bowl of choice. Use up the left-over rice. Curry leaves are available in Indian Stores or online on amazon. The fresh leaves can be frozen for months in an airtight container. Use fresh or frozen right out of the freezer.
Heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let them really start to pop. If the mustard seeds don’t pop, they don’t release their amazing flavor into the food. This is one of the reasons, people often want to add more spices and flavors to the food, esp Indian food, as it feels like there isn’t enough in the dish. If the recipes call for roasting the spices with or without oil, the spices need to be roasted well for the flavor to really bloom into the dish. See video below and notice those popping mustard seeds!
Easy Turmeric Lemon Rice.
Served below with Mango Toor Dal, Easy Bengali Gobi Aloo, some Khakhra(Indian crackers).
More Indian recipes from the blog
- Festive Butternut Squash Pilaf with whole spices.
- Carrot Veggie Turmeric Pilaf /Fried Rice with Indian spices
- Mango Halwa Dessert
- Easy 30 min Veggie Pakora / Fritters.
Turmeric Lemon Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 cups (237 g) cooked rice
- 1 tsp oil high smoke point oils like organic safflower or organic canola
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) mustard seeds preferably black mustard seeds
- 8 to 10 curry leaves fresh or frozen, whole or chopped
- 2-3 tbsp (2 tbsp) toasted cashews or peanuts optional
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) or more red pepper flakes or 2 broken red chilies
- 2 tbsp or more lemon juice
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the rice, fluff and keep aside or let the rice or other cooked grains you plan to use, come to room temp.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let them start to pop. i usually check the oil by adding 2-3 seeds. If they start to sizzle immediately or pop, the oil is ready.
- Add curry leaves and wait for a few seconds. Add turmeric and red pepper flakes and mix in. Reduce heat to medium low. At this point you can add roasted nuts(cashews or peanuts) or peas or both and mix in.
- Add a splash of water to reduce the temperature of the pan. then add the lemon juice.
- Add in the rice and mix in well. Add salt if the cooked rice was not salted. Cook for 2 mins. Taste and adjust salt and lemon. Cover and take off heat. Let it sit for 2 mins before serving. Garnish with cilantro.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Julie says
May 13, 2016 at 8:16 pmYummy! Got to make the mango dal again to go with the rice! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Richa says
May 15, 2016 at 12:51 pmany dal will do. Make some!
Mae says
May 13, 2016 at 9:57 pmAs usual, you photography is amazing 🙂
Richa says
May 15, 2016 at 12:50 pmThank you Mae!
Lee @ Veggie Quest says
May 15, 2016 at 12:26 pmWhat a beautiful, nutritious, and easy side dish. Can’t wait to try it–and popping the mustard seeds. Thanks for the recipe and the tip!
Richa says
May 15, 2016 at 12:49 pmThanks!
Cassie says
May 20, 2016 at 10:49 amThis looks superb! Could you substitute the rice for brown rice or wild rice?
Haley says
May 21, 2016 at 11:31 amWhat kind of oil do you suggest using?
Richa says
May 21, 2016 at 11:44 amAny high smoke point oil like safflower or canola.
Marie says
May 22, 2016 at 9:41 amCan curry powder replace the curry leaves? I’ve never seen curry leaves in any grocer. Thanks.
Richa says
May 22, 2016 at 10:38 amCurry powder is a blend of spices while curry leaves are sweet neem leaves that are green and a vibrant flavor. very different flavors :). You can find curry leaves in Indian stores and freeze them for months and use directly from the freezer.
You can omit the curry leaves. This is a simple rice side. so you can add other flavors if you like when you add turmeric like curry powder or garam masala.
Roz says
August 21, 2016 at 8:36 pmJust finished eating this great dish beside the fire. As a main (vegan version) I made it with brown rice, topped off with eggplant pickle and coconut yogurt, and a couple of papadams. Yummmm Well worth making. Thanks
Michelle says
September 16, 2016 at 11:31 amOMG, you’re amazing! I just ordered your book, (X2) for both myself and my daughter. I added a bit of broccoli from my garden, (minus the big green worm that fell out__fed that to my pet chicken).
Lots of flavor, thanks for the tip about roasting the herbs.
Richa says
September 16, 2016 at 11:47 amlol, good that you noticed the worm. I remember my mom fed us some because she didnt see them (that is how we found out she needed glasses ):). I was like Mom, what are those floating worms, she said its cumin, and i said nope.
Doris says
December 9, 2017 at 1:50 amHaha, my mother in law once ate ants, because she thought they were cake crumbs 😀 yes, she also needed glasses.
Camille Coad-Williams says
January 19, 2020 at 4:41 pmOMG! 😂
Emily Brooks says
October 4, 2016 at 2:58 pmHello Richa! This was amazing! I did notice the spices turning dark before adding the splash of water–was that burnt or should I have stuck with it? (I started over–and it is now a fave!)
Richa says
October 4, 2016 at 3:18 pmThe mustard seeds are brown black mustard seeds. If the turmeric goes brown or black, then it is burnt. It depends on your pan and stove etc. You can cook it at slightly lower heat.
Julea says
November 9, 2016 at 3:56 pmOMGosh!!! I used cauliflower rice with this recipe and I couldn’t be happier!! My hubby and I are doing low carb, low sugar and for the longest time didn’t eat the Indian food we LOVE! Thank you so much!!!
Nicki Escudero says
November 13, 2016 at 1:16 pmHi, Richa,
I loved this recipe — thank you so much for sharing! Nicki
Lynn says
November 14, 2016 at 7:31 amCan you do this without oil?
Richa says
November 14, 2016 at 9:47 amyou can dry toast the mustard seeds and use.
Nicole says
April 16, 2017 at 12:47 amWill the rice be spicy?
Richa says
April 16, 2017 at 9:50 pmHi Nicole, Red pepper flakes/chilies add the heat. You can omit or adjust per your taste. 🙂
Michele says
August 11, 2017 at 9:10 pmI LOVE this technique of frying the spices/seeds including the turmeric and then frying the already cooked rice into the flavored oil. So much different than the turmeric rice I usually make which is just adding the turmeric and any seeds to the rice as it cooks. I’m making this for the 2nd time in 3 days–and a double batch! Thank you so much for sharing!
Richa says
August 11, 2017 at 9:50 pmAwesome!
Beebe says
December 17, 2017 at 11:43 amI made this last week and it was such a hit I’m making it again. It was very easy and sooo delicious. I couldn’t find curry leaves, so I just left them out. Would you recommend a substitute?
Richa says
December 17, 2017 at 12:04 pmif you can find dried ones (on amazon), those will work too. No good substitute really, but for variation you can add 1 bay leaf or kaffir lime leaf.
Marie says
December 21, 2018 at 8:48 amCan I also use dry curry leaves for this meal?
Marie says
December 21, 2018 at 8:55 amI just saw a response that you made mentioning being able to use dry curry leaves instead of fresh or frozen. No need to respond to my comment if that is the case. Thank you
Richa says
December 21, 2018 at 11:02 amyes you can use dry
Keren says
August 20, 2019 at 6:02 amHi Richa,
Is there a way to make it a complete meal by adding some beans or black lentils? If so, do I increase the spices and add more curry leaves?
Thanks.
Richa says
August 20, 2019 at 10:34 amyes you can toss in some cooked lentils, chickpeas or beans. Double up the spices and curry leaves and salt depending on if the lentils. beans are already salted.
Keren says
August 20, 2019 at 11:19 pmThanks, I’ll try to make it this weekend. I saw fresh curry leaves in the market and hope they’ll be there this week too. I love boldly spiced rich dishes and these days try to eat legumes every day hence my question.
Richa says
August 20, 2019 at 11:37 pmyou should get them and freeze them. the frozen curry leaves have fresh like flavor.
Keren says
August 21, 2019 at 4:05 amThanks
Keren says
September 24, 2019 at 3:57 amDelicious! I finally managed to find curry leaves again (last bag!) I did add black lentils and will probably make this recipe again with some sort of legume to make it a main dish. Just had it for lunch. I love using new ingredients which give a dish a whole new flavour. Added some roasted cashews and cilantro on top. Love it! Now I need to find other recipes of yours that use curry leaves.
Richa says
September 24, 2019 at 10:00 amyay!! tons of curry leaves recipes onthe blog
https://www.veganricha.com/?s=%22curry+leaves%22
https://www.veganricha.com/2015/11/curry-leaf-pepper-chickpeas.html
Yukti Arora says
September 7, 2019 at 5:58 amso tasty rice recipe so keep posting.
Kris says
February 19, 2020 at 7:11 pmJust made this for dinner tonight- it was so good everyone loved it. Reminds me of the first time I ever tried “yellow rice” and I’ve been trying to recreate it ever since (with help from many a recipe!). Thank you!!
Richa says
February 19, 2020 at 9:27 pmawesome
Joyce says
March 2, 2020 at 1:54 pmHi Richa
When I was little I used to make something with leftover rice that included mustard, lemon juice and olive oil steamed.
I will try this one thank you!!!
Merry Pearl says
May 21, 2020 at 11:23 amTHANK YOU FOR YOUR PRECISE INSTRUCTIONS AND YOUR INSIGHT!
I’m of Latin descent and I have never been able to cook rice perfectly to save my life. It was a bit of a downer, given my heritage – but your easy step by step guide helped me make my first perfect rice in 20 years!
Thank you again!
Vegan Richa Support says
May 21, 2020 at 11:34 amI’m so glad this worked for you! Thank you for stopping by!