Recipe Vegetable Khichadi (Indian super food gone global)

A simple heart-healing dish that acts as a natural cleanser.

The Khichadi is an Indian staple meal made from the most basic ingredients. According to Ayurveda khichadi is considered one of the most healing foods due to its gut healing properties.

Khichadi is mostly consumed with a pickle of your choosing. Pickle acts as a natural probiotic which helps in improving gut health.

The comforting feeling of having a bowl of khichadi is underrated. This one dish acts as a pot meal that covers all your carbs, protein, and vitamin needs. Satiety is the biggest winner when it comes to having khichadi, it also helps curb your mid-day and evening cravings.

Gathering the Ingredients

The Ingredients are simple and easy to find in any household or local grocery store. Start by taking rice (which can be substituted with buckwheat), Moong Dal or Skinned Green Gram beans (Yellow Lentils), cumin seeds, asafoetida, salt, and turmeric.

Prepare the Ingredients

Kick things off by soaking the Rice (Buckwheat) and Moong Dal (Yellow Lentils) in water for 30 mins. Drain the soaked water and add fresh water. Assemble ghee, cumin seeds, and asafoetida for tadka (tempering).

Giving the tadka (Tempering)

The time to bring that inner Chef out is here. Take a Skillet or Tadka pan (as it is known), add ghee, and let it heat for a few minutes. Now add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, and asafoetida and allow it to sizzle. Make sure to not overheat or sizzle otherwise, it will burn. Once the tadka is ready pour it over to the bowl in which the rice and dal have been soaked in.

Boil and pressure cook

Now that the tadka (tempering) has been added to the bowl it’s time to boil them all together. Take one boil and put the vessel in a pressure cooker (multipot and crockpot are good alternatives) and let it cook. Take 3 whistles on a high flame, take 2 whistles on a slow flame, and finally take 1 whistle on a high flame and shut the stove.

Stir, whisk, and serve

At this point, the dish has been pressure cook. You can remove the bowl from the pressure cooker or in case of a multipot or crockpot pour the Khichadi into a bowl. Now it’s time to whisk the khichadi slowly for a few minutes until it has a puree-like consistency.

Ingredients

1. 3/4 Cup Rice
2. 1/4 Cup Moong Dal(Yellow Lentils)
3. 6 Cups of water
4. 2 Tablespoons of ghee
5. 1 Tea Spoon of Cumin seeds
6. 1 Tea Spoon of Asafoetida
7. 1/4 Spoon Turmeric
8. Salt as per taste

Direction

1. Add 3/4 cup of rice, and 1/4 cup of moong dal (yellow lentils) to a medium-sized bowl. Pour water and let it soak for 30 mins.
2. Wash, rinse, and discard the soaked water after 30 mins.
3. Pour 6 cups of fresh water into the bowl.
4. Accumulate 2 teaspoons of ghee, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, and some curry leaves.
5. Take a skillet or tadka pan and heat it up over a medium flame. Once the pan is optimally heated add ghee followed by cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, and some curry leaves. Now let all of them heat together until they sizzle. Shut the flame and pour the tadka into the bowl which holds the rice, dal, and 6 cups of water.
6. Now add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric and salt as per taste.
7. Stir the bowl well till it mixes.
8. In case of a pressure cooker put the bowl inside the cooker, cover it with a lid, and shut the pressure cooker. If you tend to cook it in a multipot or crockpot then just pour the mixture inside and shut it tight.
9. Place the pressure cooker on the stove. On a fast flame monitor 3 whistles.
10. Now reduce the flame to low and monitor 2 whistles.
11. Next, increase the flame to a high and monitor 1 whistle.
12. Now wait till the pressure is naturally realized from the pressure cooker.
13. If you intend to use a multi-pot or crockpot monitor for 30 to 35 mins until the water has reduced and khichadi has become like a puree.
14. Once the pressure is released, remove the bowl from the pressure cook and whisk the khichadi for a few minutes rapidly until it has a puree-like consistency.
15. Follow the same process for the multi-pot and crockpot. Pour the khichadi into a bowl and whisk.
16. Garnish with a dollop of desi ghee. Serve piping hot.

Tip

Restaurants tend to add creamers to make the khichadi more creamy and tasty. To make the khichadi creamy at home the measurements of the ingredients are key. Make sure to follow the ratio in which the ingredients are mentioned for a creamy soul-satisfying khichadi.