॥ आहार तत् त्वं असि ॥
I revere Khichdi. Satvik, Simple, healthy and comforting. This dish with a rustic name has been nourishing the Indian subcontinent for hundreds of years. In its most basic form it’s just plain rice, moong dal and some salt. If you add vegetables and spices (Vaghareli Khichdi), it can become a delicacy like the Spanish Paella. I cook both types of khichdis regularly at my home although adding vegetables makes it a quick one-dish meal.
1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup rice jasmine or basmati
1/2 cup green beans chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup green peas
1 small potato cut into cubes
1/2 cup carrots chopped
2 tea spoons butter/ghee
1 tea spoon salt
If you like onions, 1 medium size onion, chopped. It adds a very good taste to the Khichdi.
For Masala:
2 small green chilies
1/2 tea spoon ginger paste
1 small bunch chopped cilantro
A few curry leaves
2 inch cinnamon piece broken into smaller bits
4 cloves
1/2 tea spoon cumin seeds/jeera
1/4 tea spoon turmeric
1. Wash rice and moong dal in running water. Soak in 2 cups of water and keep aside.
2. In a big pan, heat butter /ghee. When it is hot, add all the masalas and stir-fry for about a minute.
3. Add rice and mung dal along with the water. Stir in vegetables and salt.
4. Increase the heat to medium high. Let the khichdi boil for 3 minutes.
5. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes until khichdi is cooked. Khichdi is done when all the water is absorbed.
Enjoy Khichdi by itself or with Kadhi (recipe coming up soon)
For Plain Khichdi (No vegetables)
1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup rice (jasmine or basmati)
2 cups water
1/4 tea spoon jeera/cumin seeds
1/8 tea spoon turmeric
1/8 tea spoon crushed black pepper
1/3 tea spoon salt
1tea spoon butter or ghee
1. In a medium size pan, heat butter/ghee and add cumin seeds. Add rest of the ingredients including water and stir gently.
2. Increase the heat to medium high. Let the khichdi boil for 3 minutes.
3. Now reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes until khichdi is cooked. Khichdi is done when all the water is absorbed.
Some of the ways Indians eat khichdi:
With butter or ghee
With butter, ghee and pickle
With Kadhi
With ghee and sugar (some people swear by this combo)
May 20, 2009 at 2:52 am
I clearly see mustard seeds in the picture u have put up, but it’s not mentioned in your recipe!
April 24, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Hi Manu,
Khichdi is one of my favorites. I love it with yogurt, pickle and ofcourse Lijjat double mari Papad!!! OOOH, what a lovely, mouthwatering recipe.
Pallavi
April 24, 2009 at 8:47 pm
This Khichdi recipe of moong dal + rice is actually a Kutchi khichdi although spices like cinnamon , clove , black cardamom arent used in the actual kutchi khichdi….( by the Kutchi khichdi derives its name from Kutch.
Towards Gujarat i.e Ahmedabad and other areas downsouth and up north of A’bad , Vaghareli khichdi comprises of equal parts of Toor Dal and long grain Rice plus cardamom sticks , clove , garam masala (Badshah Rajwadi Garam Masala is one of the best off the shelf and versatile too with a lot of dishes be it north indian or gujju) ..!! , On the veggie part you can add whole garlic cloves , Thick sliced onions, meduim diced ginger , meduim-big diced potatoes , plus anything of your choice.
Method of cooking ( for 2 adults with an apetite) ):Wash and then soak 1 fistful each of Long grain basmati rice + Toor dal in luke warm water and keep aside.
Heat 3 tablesppons of Ghee / Margarine in a pressure cooker till its hot and then turn the flame to medium heat.
Add 1 tea spoon cumin seeds and as soon as they start spluttering, add apinch of asafoetida , the cardamom sticks ( 1” length x 2 or 3 pieces) plus the 5-6 Cloves & 2-3 pieces of dried red chilli .. ( watch out when the cloves splutter ) and immediately add the sliced onion , diced ginger / potatoes to it and saute everything till the onion turns light pinkish ,
then add 1/4 tea spoon of turmeric and mix it well with the ingredients for about 30 seconds and add 1 tea spoon of salt and again mix it well.
Add the soaked toor dal / rice mixture to the cooker along with the water in which they were soaked.
Thumb rule is : Level of water in the pressure cooker should be twice the level of Toor Dal / Rice spread in the cooker along with the other ingredients, once mixed with the dal-rice.
Taste the mixture for adequate salt as per individual taste and add more salt to taste accordingly.
Pop in the cloves of Garlic in the mixture ( no of cloves – as per your choice since the pugency of garlic decreases drastically once boiled or steamed and its more healthier as well..)
Add 2 teaspoons of Garam masala , and shake the mixture so that it mixes evenly.
Put the lid on the pressure cooker and turn the gas on high flame.
2 whistles should be more than enough / turn off the gas, then let it cool itself gradually till the pressure eases off.
If the final result still feels a bit loose in consistency , keep the cooker on low flame with the water vapors away..
Enjoy this hot spicy khichdi with Gujju Kadhi / yoghurt / raita
April 24, 2009 at 9:25 pm
R D,
You have given me a very interesting version of Khichdi here. Thank you. It very much resembles the South Indian Bisi BeLe HuLianna, except that we use south indian masala powder and imli. I will surely try this. I appreciate the effort you took to write the entire recipe here. By the way, I do use the Badshah rajwadi masala. I remember listening to their radio ads while growing up in Bhavnagar!
Anupama
April 1, 2009 at 11:01 am
Hi Anupama,
You have a lovely collection of recipes, I stumbled into your blog from Kalyan’s comment list. will definitely come back again.
Love ,
Sudeshna
April 1, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Dear Sudeshna,
Thank you so much. Do come again. I see that you also have a food blog. Will check it out soon.
Anupama
March 31, 2009 at 7:44 pm
A lazy awful cook like me can only wonder at the well written recipe here. But sure it should taste good!
My post is more on ‘how not to make khichdi’ [;)]. So, have linked to yours. Cheers!
March 30, 2009 at 11:25 pm
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March 24, 2009 at 8:38 pm
A gujarati classic and a favorite….this is so handy for busy evenings too! Looks great.
March 25, 2009 at 2:59 am
Hi Trupti, Yes, nothing like a bowl of khichdi-kadhi to wrap up the day. Thanks for dropping by.
Anupama
March 13, 2009 at 5:01 am
Brings back lovely memories of the “Chikadi” .To this day it is one of Dhruva’s favourite dishes.
March 9, 2009 at 7:57 pm
What a nice yummy way to make Khichdi, We usually make plain khichdi with a sweet gujju shaak and vaghareli chaas, yogurt, or kadhi but this is an all in one dish. Can’t wait to try it out.
March 8, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Bookmarked it and will cook this ASAP…lovely recipe