Khichdi

Comfort Food ~ Khichdi

When I think of comfort food, nothing but Khichdi that comes to my mind. Growing up my Mom would make khichdi in a variety of ways including mung dal, toor dal, masoor dal and more. This dish is very easy to prepare and your imagination is the limit to prepare this dish. Any kind of vegetables you may like could be added or it could be made with just plain rice and dal. It is also a no fuss dish with just very simple flavors and without the complexity of too many spices. It is also a one pot, okay, not a one pot, but one pressure cooker meal; all the vegetables, rice and dal go into one pressure cooker and you are all set. Today I have tried to use a variety of vegetables including some unusual ingredients; the net outcome was still the same soothing and satisfying meal with every spoonful.

Recipe: (Makes for 4 people)

2 cups brown rice (or white rice)
1 cup toor dal
1 carrot diced
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1 small bunch of swiss chard chopped
< 1/4 cup corn
< 1/4 cup peas
< 1/4 cup string beans cut
1 tbsp Ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds or jeera
1 green chili pepper slit length-wise
1 tsp red chilli powder or per taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste

Vegetables for khichdi

Soak the rice with double the amount of water for at least 30 minutes. Soak the toor dal also is possible with twice the amount of water. In a pressure cooker, heat ghee and add jeera. Then add the green chili, carrots and string beans saute for a few seconds. Then add the rice excluding the water and mix well with the vegetables so that ghee can coat every grain of rice. Now add the toor dal and water. Add the turmeric, chilli powder, salt, black pepper and mix. Cover the cooker with the lid and let the pressure come out at least 5 - 6 times before you turn off the flame. You can open the pressure cooker after about 10 minutes or when the pressure is completely calmed and no hissing sound is heard. Add the bell pepper, corn, peas, swiss chard now and mix well as these vegetables can cook through easily from the heat of the mixture. I also prefer the bell pepper to be a bit crunchy so I add it in the end. If you are using fresh corn or peas, add it along with the carrots in the beginning.
Top it off with a small dollop of ghee and your hot khichdi is ready to be enjoyed and you won’t even notice that it is made with brown rice.

Khichdi with a drizzle of ghee