Mint lemon Rice with Raisins is a one-pot mint flavored rice with a tinge of lemon in it for that citrusy kick! All you need is a side of salad and/or raita or even just plain yogurt to make a complete meal of it. If you are a lover of fresh mint leaves, then this is the meal for you! With just some simple pantry ingredients, plonking this delicious one-pot rice on your dinner or lunch table is a piece of cake! Have it as a main with some salad or a side with your favorite meal! Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
WHY DID I MAKE THIS EASY RICE TODAY?
How do you plan your meals? Make a weekly planner or cook as you go with ingredients you have? I belong to the second category. Depending upon what leftovers I have (food and/or vegetables), I plan my next meal. Today’s dish is something like that. I had a fresh mint plant, lots of lemons in the garden and leftover rice. So…. Sometimes when we get takeout, like from an Indian restaurant, they do send over lots of tubs of cooked aromatic Basmati rice to enjoy with the curries we order. And I am highly thrilled as I get to make another meal of it with already cooked rice; one less job for me. Like any south Indian would with leftover (or freshly made) cooled rice, we love to spice up plain rice and make tangy Lemon rice, spicy and sweet/sour Tamarind flavored rice, maybe some Chinese style fried rice like Burnt Garlic Fried Rice/Mushroom Fried Rice or even some plain Curd/Yogurt rice. This time that pot of fresh mint leaves plant in my garden was begging me to unburden it so I decided to make Mint Flavored rice with some freshly picked mint leaves (what we call “Pudina” in southern India); and with barrels of lemons in the backyard from 2 huge lemon trees, turned it into Mint Lemon Rice! Sounds delicious and exciting right? Told you; belong to the second category!
BASIC INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE MINT/PUDINA LEMON RICE:
Cooked and cooled Basmati rice or any long grained rice preferably. Make sure to cool the rice well before proceeding to cook the dish and it is fluffy and separate. If you do not have long grained rice, short grain rice would work too. Of course lots of mint leaves. I have used a cup of mint leaves to flavor 4 cups of cooked rice. If you are a mint lover, feel free to increase the amount of mint leaves. Serrano Peppers to spice things up a bit! we all love a bit of heat/spice in our meals don’t we? You can use jalapenos or even Indian style or green chilies. I love ginger, so decided to add that too. If you are garlic lover, feel free to use a couple of cloves of that. Turmeric powder/haldi is a staple in most of my savory dishes (and sometimes sweet dishes!) and it is good for you too. So I had to add some turmeric powder and a dash of black pepper powder to get full advantage of curcumin (which has anti-inflammatory and ant-oxidant properties) in the turmeric which is better absorbed/assimilated due to “piperine” in black pepper. So do remember, every time you use turmeric powder, do not forget to add some black pepper powder too! You can enjoy this rice without any vegetables, but to make it a one dish wholesome meal, I decided to stir in some frozen corn and green peas. You can use your favorite vegetables or whatever you have. Then of course a lemon to add some zing to the dish. Do stir in some zest of 1 lemon along with it for that extra oomph and then use the juice of that zested lemon to add an acidic element to finish the dish! These ingredients are optional, but I love to jazz up my rice with some nuts and raisins so some cashews and raisins are needed too (if you prefer those in your rice dish). That is it! Minimal ingredients but absolutely aromatic, especially if you love mint and lemons.
HOW TO MAKE EASY PEASY MINT LEMON RICE:
First step is to of course make sure you have cooked rice on hand. If making fresh, plan ahead and let cool the rice completely. Each grain of rice should be cooked yet fluffy and separate; no mushy rice will do! Second step is to blitz or crush the mint leaves along with the chilies and ginger to a coarse paste. If you want, you can add garlic too here but this time I avoided it.
The final step is to finish it in a saucepan. Bloom some cumin seeds in a bit of oil in a pan for a few seconds and then tip in the peas and corn along with a dash of salt. Stir in cashew nuts (or any other nut you prefer) along with raisins and stir fry for a few minutes.
Tip in the crushed mint mixture and saute for a minute or so; this helps in releasing the flavors of the mint and at the same time, removes the raw smell of ginger.
Final step is to stir in the cooked Basmati rice, turmeric and black pepper powder. Add salt to taste and mix well until heated through. Finish off the dish with a shower of some lemon zest (only the yellow portion; not white) and a dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice to perk things up.
Mix, remove and enjoy!
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
It is so flavorful, you can enjoy it as such but I love to have some yogurt with it, so stirred in some Pink salt, roasted jeera powder, some red chili powder and a dash of sugar in plain yogurt and savored my Mint lemon rice even more!
If you are vegan, you can omit the raita or yogurt. Just some crisp, fresh salad or even some poppadum or plain potato chips would suffice. It came out so, so good, my family polished it off and I had to assure my daughter in law that it will be on my blog soon as she kept wishing that I would post this recipe soon as it was super yummy! Enjoy Foodie Friends and Happy Eating!
For more rice dishes, you got to check these out too:
South Indian Coconut Rice Achaari Gongura Rice South Indian Curd/Yogurt Rice Burnt Garlic Vegetable Fried Rice Tamarind Rice
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