Meyer Lemon Pulihora (Meyer Lemon Rice)

Blogging Marathon# 27: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Occasions - Birthday
Dish: (Meyer) Lemon Pulihora

Pulihora is the first dish that is made for any occasion in Andhra Pradesh. Be it a simple birthday celebration at home or a big fancy sit-down meal for a wedding, pulihoras in different avatars make their appearance. There are 2 types of pulihoras: lemon pulihora - this is the quickest and I usually make it when I don't have too much time, but still want to make something festive for an occasion. The second variety is made with tamarind -- this needs some time to prepare and to let the flavors mingle with each other, but is the tastiest among the two. 

I used meyer lemons instead of regular lemons in today's dish. Meyer lemons are fruitier and have a slightly sweeter taste. Their skin is also not as thick as regular lemons.

Lemon rice is super simple to make and usual flavor additions are lemon juice (of course) and ginger. Today's recipe is from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin cookbook. To add a little more flavor to good old lemon rice, a spice powder is added right before turning off the heat. This dish can most definitely be made with regular lemons.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1cup (I use sona masoori rice)
Lemon juice - ¼cup
Green Chilies - 2, slit length wise
Ginger - 1" piece, finely grated
Peanuts - 3tbsp
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - chopped, for garnish

For Tempering:
Chana dal - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Dry red chili - 2
Asafoetida/ Hing - ¼tsp
Curry leaves - 10

For Spice Powder:
Star anise - 1 flower
Green cardamom - 3
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 1" piece
Poppy seeds - 2tbsp

Method:

• Make the Spice Powder: Dry roast all the ingredients listed under spice powder and grind to a powder.
• Cook rice and set aside. Make sure that it is not mushy and the grains are separate.
• Make Lemon Rice: Heat 2tsp oil in a pan, add all the ingredients for tempering and once the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the green chilies, ginger and peanuts. Fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the rice, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well.
• Add the spice powder and lemon juice. Turn off the heat and mix well to combine.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot or at room temperature.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 27.