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    Home » Variety Rice » Kadarangai Saadam | Wild Lemon Rice

    Kadarangai Saadam | Wild Lemon Rice

    Posted on January 11, 2018 · Last Updated on April 26, 2020 · By Srividhya G · 4 Comments

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    Every day I pack lunch for my family. I am happy and proud about that. But at times it gets daunting especially when you run out of ideas and recipes. Today I am going to share a keeper lunch box recipe with a seasonal veggie/fruit. It is the Kadarangai Saadam or the Wild Lemon Rice. It is a flavored rice prepared with wild lemon juice and tempered with spices in coconut oil.

    Kadarangai Saadam - Wild Lemon Rice served in a bowl with a pan next to it

    Kadarangai Saadam

    I prepared this rice with kadarangai from my garden, and this has a story behind it. :-) As I mentioned in my Adios 2017 post, I was learning, exploring and experimenting on my garden in 2017. Our previous owner had planted quite a few tree, and I didn’t know what they were as they didn’t bear any fruits. I joined few gardening groups and eventually learned that three of the trees belong to the citrus family and one was avocado, once was peach, and the other one was quince. (Will write separately about quince, peach, and avocado)

    Out of the three citrus trees, one bloomed and we got a decent yield from that small tree. But the fun part was, we didn’t know what kind of citrus is that. We knew for sure it was not an orange and lemon/lime. I wasn’t sure it was citron(Narthangai) or wild-lemon (kadarangai) but finally got to know it is the wild-lemon. My amma, few of my friends and of course the online group friends helped me figure that out.

    So what I did do with all those Kadarangai? Of course Gojju, pickle and this rice. The other recipes will be soon here in this space, but today let’s talk about the rice. It is precisely like lemon rice but instead of lemon juice we use wild-lemon juice. And, I used coconut oil for the tempering which helped in balancing that sweet and sour and bitterness of the wild-lemon. Of course, it added flavor to the rice too. :-)

    A large pan full of Wild Lemon Rice - Kadarangai Saadam, with a colorful towel in the background

    So here is how I prepared this rice.

    Kadarangai Saadam | Wild Lemon Rice Recipe

    Kadarangai saadam or the wild-lemon rice. It is a flavored rice prepared with wild lemon juice and tempered with spices in coconut oil.

    Ingredients:

    • Rice – 1 cup
    • Water – 2 cups
    • Coconut Oil – 1 tbsp
    • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
    • Urad dal – 1 tsp
    • Channa Dal – 1 tsp
    • Curry leaves – 5 to 6 leaves
    • Hing – ½ tsp
    • Chopped Cilantro – 1 tbsp
    • Cashew nuts – 1 tbsp
    • Peanuts – 1 tbsp
    • Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
    • Green chilies – 2
    • Salt – 1 tsp
    • Wild-lemon / Kadarangai Juice – 3 tbsps

    Prep-Work:

    • Cook the rice in your preferred way by adding 2 cups of water or with required amount. I used Sona masoori rice for this recipe.
    • Let the rice cool and set it aside. Make sure the rice is not sticky.
    • Squeeze and extract the wild lemon juice and set aside 3 tbsps.

    Steps:

    • Heat the pan and add coconut oil.
    • Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, hing, and channa dal.

    Adding the mustard seeds, urad dal, hing, and channa dal

    • When they start to splutter, add the curry leaves chopped green chilies, cashews, and peanuts.

    Adding the curry leaves chopped green chilies, cashews and peanuts

    • Roast them for a couple of minutes.
    • Then add turmeric powder.

    Adding turmeric powder

    • Mix it and turn off the heat.

    Mixing and turning off the heat

    • Now add the cooked rice, wild-lemon juice, and salt.

    Adding the cooked rice, wild-lemon juice and salt

    • Gently mix them all together.

    Mixing the ingredients

    • Finally, add the chopped cilantro and serve it with chutney or potato curry or with your favorite fryums or chips.

    Delicious and great looking Wild Lemon Rice - Kadarangai Saadam, in a dark bowl with a wooden spoon on the side

    Notes:

    • I prefer non-sticky grainy rice for all variety rice. But you can cook according to your preference.
    • Coconut oil adds a sweet flavor, but you can always replace it with your regular cooking oil or any other oil of your choice.
    • You can either add peanuts or cashews or skip them too.
    • I would recommend tasting the wild lemon juice to know the taste. We need to if it’s too sweet or sour or bitter. Accordingly adjust the green chilies, salt and the amount of wild-lemon juice.

    📖 Recipe

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    5 from 1 vote

    Kadarangai Saadam | Wild Lemon Rice

    Kadarangai saadam or the wild-lemon rice. It is a flavored rice prepared with wild lemon juice and tempered with spices in coconut oil.
    Prep Time30 minutes mins
    Cook Time10 minutes mins
    Total Time40 minutes mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Indian, South Indian
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 128kcal
    Author: Srividhya G

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Rice
    • 2 cups Water
    • 1 tbsp Coconut Oil
    • 1 tsp Mustard seeds
    • 1 tsp Urad dal
    • 1 tsp Channa Dal
    • 5-6 Curry leaves
    • ½ tsp Hing
    • 1 tbsp Chopped Cilantro
    • 1 tbsp Cashew nuts
    • 1 tbsp Peanuts
    • ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
    • 2 Green chilies
    • 1 tsp Salt -
    • 3 tbsps Wild-lemon / Kadarangai Juice

    Instructions

    Prep-Work:

    • Cook the rice in your preferred way by adding 2 cups of water or with required amount. I used Sona masoori rice for this recipe.
    • Let the rice cool and set it aside. Make sure the rice is not sticky.
    • Squeeze and extract the wild lemon juice and set aside 3 tbsps.

    Steps:

    • Heat the pan and add coconut oil.
    • Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, hing, and channa dal.
    • When they start to splutter, add the curry leaves chopped green chilies, cashews, and peanuts.
    • Roast them for a couple of minutes.
    • Then add turmeric powder.
    • Mix it and turn off the heat.
    • Now add the cooked rice, wild-lemon juice, and salt.
    • Gently mix them all together.
    • Finally, add the chopped cilantro and serve it with chutney or potato curry or with your favorite fryums or chips.

    Notes

    • I prefer non-sticky grainy rice for all variety rice. But you can cook according to your preference.
    • Coconut oil adds a sweet flavor, but you can always replace it with your regular cooking oil or any other oil of your choice.
    • You can either add peanuts or cashews or skip them too.
    • I would recommend tasting the wild lemon juice to know the taste. We need to if it's too sweet or sour or bitter. Accordingly adjust the green chilies, salt and the amount of wild-lemon juice.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 128kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 664mg | Potassium: 61mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 47IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

    Tried this recipe?Mention @vidhyasvegetariankitchen or tag #vidhyasvegkitchen
    For Video RecipesCheck out My YouTube Channel

    P.S. Follow my Pinterest boards for more healthy and delicious recipes.

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    Kadarangai Saadam
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    Filed Under: Variety Rice Tagged With: homemade kadarangai saadam, how to make kadarangai rice, kadarangai rice, Kadarangai Saadam, kadarangai saadam recipe, kadarangai sadham, lunch box recipes, lunch menu, lunchbox recipes, Wild Lemon Rice

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Helena says

      April 26, 2020 at 9:10 am

      5 stars
      I tried wild lemon rice a few times, and it never disappointed! :-)

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        April 27, 2020 at 10:53 am

        Thanks

        Reply
    2. Bikramjit says

      January 11, 2018 at 11:06 pm

      That looks yummy and nutritious tooo… will try it out for sure…

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        January 17, 2018 at 8:40 am

        Thanks :-)

        Reply
    5 from 1 vote

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