Narthangai Saadham | Citron Rice
Narthangai Saadham | Citron Rice – Citron (Citrus medica) is a species of citrus fruit. We can also call it as a variety of lemon. The difference is lemon has thin rind whereas citron has a thick rind. The sour taste of the juice also slightly varies lemon is little milder sour when compared to citron/Narthangai. It is said to be the traditional variety to be used with amazing health benefits when compared to lemon.
Usually I don’t like citron taste so I prefer lemon, but after marriage my mom used to bring so much of fruits from our field and will store in my fridge. No way I have to use it off (as I generally don’t waste food stuffs). My husband started liking it more than lemon, as days passed the taste seems to be quite better than lemon and now I love it ? As a mom, with health concern I started carrying the fruit regularly. Big story for a small fruit. Thanks for reading. Lets move on for recipe.
Ingredients of Narthangai Saadham:
- Cooked Rice – 2 cup
- Citron/ Narthangai – 1
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Salt -2 tsp
- Coriander leaves – 1 tsp
For Seasoning: - Cashews – 4-5
- Mustard – 1/4 tsp
- Channa dal/gram dal – 1 tsp
- Split urad dal – 1/2 tsp
- Chillies (green& red ) – 3-4
- Curry leaves – fewMethod of Preparation of Narthangai Saadham:
- Extract juice from citron fruit without seeds
- Add salt and turmeric powder to that juice.
- Pour over the rice and mix well. Keep aside
- Heat oil and fry cashews+ mustard and all ingredients given under seasoning.
- Add in to the rice.
- Now heat the pan containing rice in low flame to get an even finish.
Step-wise of Making Narthangai Saadham:
- Cut the citron and squeeze the juice out
- Add in turmeric powder, salt and mix well
- Pour over the rice
- Mix well evenly and keep aside
- Heat oil in a pan and fry cashews until golden brown
- Add mustard,channa dal, urad dal, chillies, sliced onion, curry leaves
- Add the seasoning into the rice
- Now heat the pan containing rice after adding the seasoning/tadka mix
- Add chopped coriander leaves and a tbsp of ghee
- Mix gently and once the rice is hot put off the flame
- Transfer to a serving plate
Note:
- Squeezing of lemon would be quite easy when compared to citron fruit. So use can use a juice extractor.
- Also squeezing by hand will make the juice little bitter, so take care that water content in the outer layer not to mix much with the juice.
- Adding a tsp/tbsp of ghee as per your requirement gives a vibrant taste to the rice.
- Also using of groundnut oil for variety rice will give a fine texture to the recipe