Pepper Chicken and Lemon Rice

My mom made this for us while she was visiting this holiday season. It was very tasty and extremely easy to cook. I have listed my Mom's chicken recipe and my friend, Roopa Shankar's, lemon rice recipe. Bon Apetit!!!

Pepper Chicken

Heat oil. Add mustard, jeera & whole garam masala (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves & bay leaves).

Add chopped onions, ginger/garlic paste. Fry till it turns brownish.

Add 3-4 slit green chilles, lots of curry leaves, haldi, tomatoes. Cook till oil separates from the masala.

Add chicken ( preferably small cut thigh pieces) Mix, cover & cook till done (it took me about 7-10 mins on medium heat).

Add about 2 tsp or more ( till you get taste & flavour) of pepper pd, garnish with coriander leaves & serve hot.

Tips: Add the pepper powder right before you serve the dish for the best aroma and flavor. Use fresh ground pepper if possible. 

Lemon Rice

Precook 1 cup of rice ( not too hard or sticky)

Heat Oil. Add mustard and jeera.
Then add 1 fist full of raw peanuts and saute for about 1/2 min.
Then add 1 tbsp of urud dal and 1 tbsp of chana dal (the dahlia used for chutney, not the chana dal used for dal). Just when they start to turn brown (less than 15 seconds) add the following:

split green chilies
curry leaves.
2 pinch turmeric powder
1/2 cut lemon juice (I mean the huge US style lemons)
salt
1 - 2 pinch sugar

Mix the above well, add rice and toss together. Right before you serve add remaining 1/2 lemon's juice and fresh cut coriander.

Tips: 
1. Cook on medium or low heat, or else ingredients can get burnt very easily.
2. Keep all the ingredients ready before you start. There shouldn't be any delay in adding the ingredients or the previous ingredients in the pan will get burnt. 
3. Always add the peanuts before the urad dal & chana dal because the peanuts will take slightly more time to roast.
4. Add the remaining lemon juice to the rice, right before you serve, or else the flavor of the lemons get absorbed by the rice. 
5. You can make Onion Lemon Rice or Garlic Lemon Rice by adding onions or garlic to the tadka before adding the rice.