Receta Khichdi - A treat.
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Khichdi - Rice with lentils- A treat.
While for some, khichdi may be a food for the sick, but for me and my family it is a treat. Especially khichdi when served fresh and hot, is a bliss. Yes,I am not exaggerating here. Mind you, it should not be bland , but should be a tad spicier with some ghee generously added(dont mind the calories when you want to enjoy the taste!!) and of course the last secret is the garnishing part with the red chillies.Believe me, this does enhances the taste and flavour to the so called boring khichdi!! And then some people use yellow mung dal or some even use tuvar dal, but I feel whole green mung works fine in khichdi.I have tried so many combinations and methods to make khichdi an interesting meal and finally , I feel this one is really good. If you have any tips to make it more interesting, do let us know in the comment section;I would be willing to follow it when I make it next time. It is not a suitable tiffin box item, so I make this when hubby is at home during the weekends. Its easy , quick and a one pot meal containing rice, veges , lentils , spices almost everything dumped together in a pot and cooked till done.
Ingredients-
- Rice- 1 cup
- Whole mung- 3/4 cup
- Onion- 1 chopped fine
- Ginger garlic paste- 1tsp
- Potato- 1 cut in small cubes
- Carrots- 1 cut in small pieces
- Beans- few cut into 1"pieces
- Peas- 1/4 cup
- Turmeric powder- 1tsp
- Red chilly powder- 1tsp or more
- Salt to taste
- Coriander powder- 2tsp generously
- Garam masala- 1tsp generously
- Oil- 1tsp
- Dried red chillies- 3-4
- Mustard- 1tsp
- Cumin seeds- 1tsp
- Ghee- 2tsp or more
- Asafoetida- a pinch
- Peanuts- 1/4 cup
Cashewnuts- few broken into small pieces(I did not add)
Method-
Soak rice and mung for atleast an hour.
In a pressure cooker, heat some oil , add mustard seeds and peanuts ( and cashewnuts if adding). Then add onions followed by ginger garlic paste. Saute til it turns translucent. Then add the chopped vegetables. Mix well . Add the turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder ,garam masala powder and salt and mix well. Then add the rice and mung. Mix well. Add around 3 cups of water. Cook in the pressure cooker till it gets well cooked.
Now the khichdi should be really mushy.The rice variety I use does not get mushy. So what I do is after opening the lid of the cooker, I add some boiling water in khichdi. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes.(When you serve khichdi, it should be of a pouring consistency. Thats the best way I could explain this!!)
Now heat some ghee in a small pan, add dried red chillies, Cumin seeds and asafoetida/hing. When it splutters, add this to the khichdi.
Mix well before serving. Serve hot with kadi preferably.