Indian Lemon Rice Recipe- Gluten Free, Vegan

Lemon rice with curried peas, red lentil dal,
 sauted and steamed carrots, and sliced radishes

One day I wanted to make something with rice, but wasn't in the mood for plain old boring white rice. The idea for lemon rice popped into my head, so I looked on google to see if such a thing existed, and discovered that lemon rice is an actual dish, part of Indian cuisine. From there, I searched the internet and found many various versions of lemon rice, each unique in their own way, but nearly all called for curry leaves, which I do not have. So, I put together a bit from this recipe and a bit from that, and came up with this finalized version of Indian lemon rice that does not contain any hard to find ingredients. It typically is spicy, but you can use as much spice as you like and make it bland if desired, or fiery if that is what you prefer.
It's also the perfect thing to do to repurpose leftover rice.

Indian Lemon Rice Recipe

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup almonds or unsalted shelled peanuts, or a mix
1/4 cup lemon juice
Pinch or dash of hot pepper flakes
4-6 cups cooked rice (more will give you a more mildly flavored rice)

Instructions:
1. Chop up the onion and mince the garlic.

2. Heat the oil and saute the onion and garlic until translucent.

3. Add the mustard seeds, cumin, and turmeric. Mix and cook for a few minutes, or until the mustard seeds are barely starting to brown.

4. Add peanuts if using, and cook them for 10 minutes on a low heat. If using almonds as well as peanuts, add after 5 minutes and cook for 5 minutes more. If using just almonds, cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add lemon juice, rice, salt, and hot pepper flakes.

6. Mix well and adjust seasonings to taste.

Enjoy!

Have you ever had Indian lemon rice? What was in it? Does this look like a recipe you'd try?

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