Lemon-laced rice with cardamom

Name: Lemon-laced rice with cardamom
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 30 ml/2 tbsp mustard oil; 2.5 ml/½ tsp black mustard seeds; 225 g/8 oz/generous 1 cup basmati rice; 2 cloves; 1 bay leaf; 2.5 cm/1 in piece of cinnamon stick; 4 cardamom pods, bruised; 5 ml/1 tsp sugar; 45 ml/3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice; 25 g/1 oz seedless raisins; 5 ml/1 tsp salt, or to taste

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Complete Indian Regional Cookbook

By Mridula Baljekar

Published 2017

About

Bengali lemon-laced rice, Lebur Bhat, is rather different from the version that is cooked in southern India. It has a more prominent lemon flavour, which smells and tastes wonderfully refreshing. Bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves are commonly used in east India to flavour rice dishes.

Ingredients

225 g/8 oz/generous 1 cup basmati rice
30

Asia
India
East India
Main course
Gluten-free
Vegan

Method

Wash the rice until the water runs clear and then soak it for 20 minutes. Leave to drain in a sieve (strainer).
In a heavy pan, heat the oil until it is smoking. Remove from the heat and add the mustard seeds (covering the pan if neces