Flavorful Indian Cilantro Lemon Rice Recipe

Q: What’s the Best Way to Chop Cilantro?

A sharp knife is key to ensure the cilantro is not bruised while chopping. The best way to finely chop cilantro is to fold the cilantro in a tight bunch and use a the rocking technique to chop the cilantro finely with a sharp knife. Covering any chopped cilantro with damp paper towels will ensure the cilantro stays green and hydrated if you are preparing ahead of time.

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About this recipe

Bright, zesty, and ready in minutes, this Indian Cilantro Lemon Rice is a flavorful vegetarian dish packed with fresh herbs and bold spices. A quick and easy recipe you will love.

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Looking for new rice dishes to spruce up your meals? You’ve come to the right place!

I gotta admit you can’t go wrong with some simple Steamed Basmati Rice to accompany your meals. It’s easy to make and the most versatile side dish you can get! Once you’ve mastered simple fluffy white rice, you’ll see that plain white rice is such a blank canvas.

Are you on team bread or team rice? Personally, with Indian meals, I usually go for team bread most of the time (gotta have rice with rajma almost always though!). But when I am opting for rice because perhaps I ran out of bread or I don’t want to take the time to make roti, paratha or naan, I just make simple plain rice.

Nowadays I’ve actually been cooking up more rice, and I’ve been wanting to venture off of plain simple white rice. As we kick off 2023, I’ve been looking forward to trying new rice recipes, and I’m going to take you on for the ride! We already started out with our Better Than Takeout Beef Fried Rice for a complete meal, but I’ve been looking to switch up my rice game for side dishes too!

We’ll be starting off with this Healthy Indian Cilantro Lemon Rice. You may know about the famous Chipotle Cilantro-Lime Rice, but I’m going to add an Indian spin to this classic and I’ll use lemon here! It’ll be a quick and refreshing rice dish that you’ll want to make again and again!

If you’re like me and want to try out a new delicious rice dish as you’ve tasted at restaurants to cross off your bucket list, then try this out as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! The new year is the time to take on a home cooking challenge like this to save on takeout and spark your creativity in the kitchen! Get on your cooking journey with me by signing up to my newsletter!

To follow along with this life-changing Indian Cilantro Lemon Rice recipe, be sure to watch the video! I’d appreciate it if you please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already and hit the bell button so you’re notified when all of my video recipes go live!! I love sharing the videos with the written recipes to give you a visual representation of exactly what’s going on so you’re set up for success! Let’s get cooking!

Cilantro lemon rice garnished with fresh herbs on a white plate with a lemon slice beside it.

This Indian-Style Cilantro Lemon Rice Is:

Vegetarian
Plant-based
Without onion or garlic
Gluten-free

Why You’ll Love Indian Cilantro Lemon Rice

Healthy & nutritious. It’s low in calories and the cilantro provides excellent health benefits such as being anti-inflammatory, assisting in digestion, assisting in reducing blood sugar, and providing heart health by lowering bad cholesterol and raising good cholesterol.
Aromatic and flavorful. If you’re a cilantro lover then you’ll love this rice side dish so much! The lime and cilantro work amazingly well together, plus we’ll have other Indian spices to make this absolutely aromatic and bursting with flavor!
Quick to make. It should only take about 30 minutes to make our easy Indian cilantro-lemon rice from start to finish! If you’re using pre-cooked rice, this time will be significantly reduced!
Versatile. I’ll provide plenty of serving suggestions later on in this post! You can pair this Indian cilantro-lime rice with a variety of proteins and curries!
Make-ahead friendly. This will be so delicious and you’ll definitely come for seconds that I strongly recommend you make a big batch of rice to enjoy it with multiple meals throughout the week!

Indian cilantro lemon rice plated on white dish with lemon slice and herb garnish

The Best Type of Rice for Healthy Cilantro Lemon Rice

With Indian cooking, basmati rice is the best type of rice to go for. This is what I’ll be using for our Healthy Indian Cilantro Lemon Rice because of its large fluffy grains and the familiar Indian flavor it has. However, if you don’t have basmati rice, then don’t worry about it! You can substitute with any long-grain rice, such as white jasmine rice. You won’t get the same fluffiness as basmati by using medium- or short-grain rices because they are denser and are better for fried rices where you gotta really mish mash ingredients! On the other hand, if those are the rices you have on hand and you want to try this recipe out with what you’ve already got in the pantry, then I don’t discourage you from using them! As I mention in my top 5 tips Make Cooking Fun!free guide, you really should use up what you already have and get creative with what’s already in the kitchen instead of going out to get new things! You never know what you can discover with ingredients that are laying around in your pantry or fridge. If you are using another type of rice, let me know how it turned out!

Can You Make this Indian Cilantro Lemon Pulao with Brown Rice?▼

You can substitute the rice with brown rice easily and follow the recipe as directed. The flavours will be different due to the brown rice but the dish will still be great.

How much Cooked Rice does Uncooked Rice Yield?▼

For typical long-grain white rice, 1 cup of uncooked rice will yield 3 cups of cooked rice. When calculating portions, I recommend you consider the amount of cooked rice since that’s actually what you’ll be serving to yourself and your family!

What’s the Best Way to Chop Cilantro?▼

A sharp knife is key to ensure the cilantro is not bruised while chopping. The best way to finely chop cilantro is to fold the cilantro in a tight bunch and use a the rocking technique to chop the cilantro finely with a sharp knife.

Covering any chopped cilantro with damp paper towels will ensure the cilantro stays green and hydrated if you are preparing ahead of time.

Do You Use the Cilantro stems?▼

Unlike parsley stems, cilantro’s stems have a ton of flavour and are always great to use in any recipe, along with cilantro leaves.

Can I use Pre-cooked Rice for this Recipe?▼

Pre-cooked rice would actually work even better for this recipe. We technically need to pre-cook the rice and let it cool down slightly so we can sauté it with the whole spices and the spicy cilantro-ginger paste.

Is This Cilantro Lemon Rice Vegan?▼

No, it isn’t simply because I’ll be cooking with ghee. However, if you want to make our recipe vegan and dairy-free, simply use your favourite plant-based cooking oil. You could use olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil.

Tools Needed for Indian Cilantro Lemon Rice

Ingredients for Indian-style Cilantro-Lemon Rice

Get all measurements and the complete recipe instructions by scrolling down to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD! Whether you need a portion of rice for a single meal or you want to prep a big batch for the week, you can scale the recipe based on the quantity you want and all individual ingredient quantities get automatically adjusted - no math on your end!

Ingredients for cilantro lemon rice arranged on a white board: basmati rice, lemon, cilantro, garlic, ginger, and spices in small bowls.

Basmati rice: Or another type of long-grain white rice.
Water: To cook the rice.
Ginger: One piece, sliced.
Green chillies: Optional, for heat. Feel free to use as little or as much depending on your spice preference.
Ghee: Used to cook our whole spices with the rice.
Whole spices: We’ll use cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, green cardamom pods, bay leaf, star anise, and whole black peppercorns.
Salt. To taste.
Lemon juice: Often times, I like to use lemon and lime juice in a bottle for the sake of convenience. However, for optimal flavor in our Indian-Style Cilantro-Lemon Rice, I recommend you squeeze a fresh lemon. You can also switch this up and use a lime!
Cilantro: A bunch of freshly chopped cilantro.

How to Make Fresh Cilantro-Lemon Rice

Rinse 1 cup of rice and add to a pot. Then add about 2 cups of water. I tend to add just a bit less than 2 cups, to get the perfect separated, individual grains of rice.

Rinsed rice in a glass bowl next to a pot of water on the stove, ready for cooking.

Rinsed rice and water in a pot ready to be brought to a boil for cooking.

Water being poured into a pot of rinsed rice for cooking cilantro-lemon rice.

Bring the water up to a boil on medium-high heat. Then turn heat down to low, cover, leaving a small slit open for steam to escape and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.

Rice boiling in water in a pot on the stove with steam escaping from beneath the lid.

Pot of cooked white rice with lid partially open to release steam during cooking process.

In the meanwhile, add the cilantro, ginger, green chillies and a pinch of salt in a mortar & pestle and grind to a smooth paste. Alternatively, add this mixture to a food processor and blend with a touch of water until smooth. Set aside for now.

Hands chopping fresh cilantro on a cutting board with lemon slices and wooden bowls nearby.

Hands holding a knife, mincing fresh cilantro on a cutting board with lemon slices and herbs nearby.

Fresh cilantro leaves in a white mortar bowl, ready to be ground into paste for cilantro lemon rice.

Fresh cilantro, ginger, and green chillies ground together in a mortar and pestle for cilantro paste.

Cilantro paste being ground in mortar and pestle with fresh green herbs and spices

Cilantro paste being spooned into a bowl of creamy rice mixture during preparation of Indian cilantro lemon rice.

Once the rice is cooked, transfer to a large plate or baking sheet to cool slightly while you heat a pan on medium heat. Add ghee to the pan along with all of the whole spices listed above. Roast until fragrant.

Hand spreading cilantro paste over cooked rice in a red baking dish during preparation.

Cilantro paste being added to ghee in a pan during preparation of cilantro lemon rice

Ghee heating in a pan with whole spices including bay leaf and cinnamon stick for cilantro lemon rice.

Add the cilantro paste from earlier and sauté for 30 seconds. Then add the cooked rice and mix well until the rice is well coated with the ghee and cilantro paste.

Cilantro paste and spices being sautéed in ghee in a pan during preparation of cilantro lemon rice.

Cilantro paste and spices sautéing in ghee in a pan over medium heat.

Cilantro lemon rice being stirred in a pan with a spatula, rice coated with ghee and green cilantro paste.

Once the rice is warm and heated through, taste and adjust for any salt and then squeeze in the lemon juice. Serve hot and enjoy!

Cilantro lemon rice served on a white plate with a fresh lemon slice garnish.

What Do I Do with Extra Cilantro?▼

If you’re like me, cilantro is a staple in your cooking! You will probably have extra cilantro after making this rice recipe. Unfortunately, I find that the big batches of cilantro the grocery stores sell often go to waste. Let’s prevent food waste in 2023 and use up what we have! Here are some ways you can finish off your bunch of cilantro!

What to Serve with Light Cilantro-Lemon Rice

You have so many options for your Cilantro-Lemon Rice! Of course, you can pair it with some traditional Indian main dishes, such as:

Among many others! However, nothing stops you from making some excellent fusion meals! For example, you can pair your rice with a juicy Italian-Herb Grilled Chicken Breast, on the side with Grilled Cajun-Spiced Shrimp Lettuce Wrapsor Pan-Seared Curried Scallops!

Storing Leftover Indian-Style Cilantro-Lemon Rice

If you have any leftover Indian-Style Cilantro-Lemon Rice or you’re meal prepping a big batch of rice, then it’s really easy to store it! Transfer your cooked rice into an airtight container and store in the fridge. It’ll stay fresh for about 4 days. You can always refresh it with a fresh sprinkle of lemon or lime juice and freshly chopped cilantro!

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!

Recipe by Anadi Misra