South Indian style lemon rice made with little millets. Little millets or Samai are cooked and tossed in a tempering of mustard seeds, lentils, curry leaves, turmeric.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Breakfast, Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian, South Indian

Ingredients

To Cook Millets

  • 1/2 cup little millet (samai)
  • 1 cup water

For Millet Lemon Rice

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 tablespoons peanuts
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon urad dal
  • 2 green chilies (finely chopped)
  • 1 stalk curry leaves
  • 1 pinch hing (asafoetida)
  • 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon coriander leaves (finely chopped)
  • juice of half lemon
  • salt (to taste)

Method

Cooking Millets

  1. Pressure Cooker Method: Wash little millet throughly 2-3 times and add 1 cup of water for 1/2 cup of little millet and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Let the pressure/steam release naturally.
  2. Once cooled fluff it up nicely with a fork, so there are no lumps and the grains stay separate.

How to Make Little Millet Lemon Rice

  1. In a Kadai, add oil once it's hot, add peanuts, and saute until they turn slightly golden brown.
  2. Then, add mustard seeds, and cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add urad dal, and saute till they turn light golden brown.
  3. Add green chilies, curry leaves, asafoetida, and saute for a few seconds.
  4. Then, add finely chopped onions. Saute for a minute or two till the onion turns slightly brown.
  5. Turn off the gas and then add turmeric powder. Stir quickly.
  6. Add the cooked millet, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.