Ingredients:
1 cup long-grained rice
2 green chillies (finely-chopped)
1 piece of fresh ginger (one-inch long; finely-chopped)
3 tbsps raw peanuts
1/4 tbsp turmeric powder
2 lemons� juice
Coriander leaves (chopped)
For Tempering
2 tsps oil
1 tbsp brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp black gram dal (washed urad dal);
picked over and rinsed
1 tbsp Bengal gram dal (yellow split peas, chana dal);
picked over and rinsed
1 red chilli (halved)
1/2 tbsp asafoetida powder, A few curry leaves
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Cook the rice and set aside.
For Tempering
Heat 2 tsp. oil in a heavy frying pan or skillet. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram dal, Bengal gram dal, red chilli, asafoetida powder and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the green chillies, ginger and peanuts. Saut� for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked rice, ground turmeric and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot. To perk up ordinary lemon rice, dry-roast and powder a half-inch piece of cinnamon bark, 2 whole cardamom pods, 2 tbs. aniseed, 2 cloves and 2 tsp. poppy seeds. Sprinkle this masala on the rice just before turning off the heat and adding the lemon juice.

LEMON-SALT PICKLE

Ingredients
Lemons (thin-skinned and juicy)
Kitchen salt (coarse)

Procedure:
Wash the lemons under running water. Wipe them dry, thoroughly. Leave them in the sun for an hour or so to dry completely. Then, with a sharp, pointed knife make small slits in the lemons. Cut them into four parts, leaving the last bit intact so that the slices don�t fully separate. Place all the cut lemons on a platter and stuff them with coarse kitchen salt and arrange them in a glass bottle. Top the bottle with salt. Close the lid tightly, and keep the bottle away in the least used part of the kitchen shelves. Over the months, the lemons change colour and become pale-brown. When they become dark-brown (after about four months), the pickle is completely ready.