Khichdi Recipe
Khichdi (Rice Lentils Porridge) is an Indian comfort meal made with rice and lentils. It is often paired with veggies and spices of choice. It is nutritious, protein packed and a balanced dish made in one pot in under 30 minutes.
Servings: 3 People
Calories: 340kcal
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Rice drained washed and pre soaked
- ½ Cup Skinned and split yellow mung lentils drained washed and pre soaked
- ¼ Cup Split Pigeon peas (Toor dal)
- 2 Tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 and ½ teaspoons Cumin Seeds
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 4 Green Cardamoms
- 4-5 Whole Cloves
- Pinch Asafoetida
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 medium Onion chopped
- 1 Green Chili (slit or chopped if you'd like)
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger Grated
- 2 teaspoons Garlic chopped
- ½ teaspoon red Chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoons Coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala powder
- 2 medium Tomatoes chopped
- to taste Salt
- ¼ cup Green Peas
- ½ cup French Beans chopped
- 1 medium Carrot chopped
- 4 and ¾ cup Water to pressure cook porridge
Instructions
- Wash, drain and soak rice and lentils together in warm water. Meanwhile let us make onion-tomato masala for porridge.
- In the pot of a pressure cooker add clarified butter over medium heat. When ghee gets heated through, add cumin seeds, asafoetida, and whole spices (bay leaves, green cardamom and cloves). Allow the cumin seeds to crackle, then add chopped garlic and grated ginger.
- When garlic gets golden, add chopped onion and a slit green chili. Stir and cook till onions soften. About 5 minutes. Next goes in chopped tomato. After a minute or two add all the ground spices (turmeric, coriander powder, garam masala and red chili powder) and salt too. Stir and cook till tomatoes soften.
- Add in soaked grains to the pot (without any water), stir and cook them in masala for about two minutes before adding veggies in.
- It's now time to add your chopped veggies. All the three-peas, french beans and carrot go in. Give them a quick stir too. Add 4 and ¾ cups of water, one more stir and close the lid of pressure cooker.
- Pressure cook the porridge as per your cooker instructions or till the grains soften. I cook mine for just one whistle and then I allow the pressure to release naturally. If you like your khichdi to be of a mushy consistency, cook it for two whistles. You can also add an extra cup of water in this case.
- Once the pressure releases naturally, remove the lid and give porridge a final stir and serve hot, topped with some coriander leaves and a little more ghee. enjoy!
Notes
Water: If you don't want to strain out the water from soaked lentils and rice, you can add it in the porridge. Just make sure to add 4 and ¾ cups of water in total. After the porridge is cooked and you find it thicker than your liking, you may stir some hot water in and warm it again.
Rice: Short grain, medium grain and long grained rice- all work well in porridge. You can substitute white rice with brown rice here. If using brown rice, soak them in water for at least two hours, prior to cooking. Brown rice need a little more water than white rice. Rice can even be replaced with quinoa, oats or millets.
Lentils: You can use lentils of choice too. Just use a total of ¾ cup lentils for 3 servings of porridge.
Vegetables: This is such a versatile recipe. Use veggies of choice. Sometimes I also add potatoes, spinach leaves and cauliflower to my porridge.
Gluten Free Option: To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free asafoetida (hing) or you can skip it from this recipe.
Vegan Option: Use vegan butter instead of ghee to make this recipe vegan friendly.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Person | Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 6g | Sodium: 94mg | Sugar: 2g