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Sharing a one pot Indian meal recipe i.e. Daal Khichadi. Daal Khichdi, is a complete meal in itself. Made with rice and lentils, khichdi is healthy, wholesome and good for you! This recipe is also gluten-free. It can be made vegan by replacing the ghee with oil.

It is really simple to make Daal Khichadi. I had never thought of sharing such a basic recipe of khichadi until my daughter moved to Mumbai for a job. Like any other sincere mom i was very worried how she will survive there, as she hardly knows how to cook? So I told her very casually “if nothing else is available just cook khichdi’ I usually make khichdi with lots of vegetables and garlic . So I told her just put all the vegetables, daal and rice in pressure cooker and cook it. In reply she gave me a ‘you cant be serious mom’ look! Point, I thought!

I mean for someone who has never cooked obviously making Daal Khichadi is also not easy. So I hope this post will help those amateur chefs who want to learn simple cooking. Its wholesome, easy and healthy for you.

My Food Travel

Being in the army I got an opportunity to taste all the diverse flavours of our country. In each part of our country, khichdi is made in a different way.

For instance, in bengal they call it kichuri, they add a dash of sweetness and it is considered very auspicious, they make it during Pujo and it tastes awesome.

However, in Gujarat’s version of khichdi, you will find that spices are avoided to keep the dish as plain as possible. The only additional ingredients in Gujarati khichdi are turmeric and hing. From Ram khichdi to Sola khichdi, variations of khichdi in this state are simple with different levels of spiciness.

In rajasthan, khichdi is prepared with millets like Bajara, makkai or whole wheat instead of rice and it is spicier than usual khichdi. Furthermore, in tamilnadu they call it pongal and there are sweet and spicy version of pongal. in karnataka it is called bisi bele baath.

Lastly, in telangana I saw a very different version of kichdi that is keema khichdi which is a non vegetarian delicacy.

However, after all my army travel inputs and after experiencing all the diversity in indian cuisine I still like my mom’s recipe with two types of daal , rice and choice of vegetable with the metaphorical cherry on the top ‘Hing Jeera Ka Tadka’ which means tempering with garlic, cumin and asafetida. Sometimes I add roasted dry fruits to give it a royal touch.

Tips To Make Khichdi:

firstly, I have added 3½ cups water to the 1 cup combination of moong dal ,chana dal and rice. You can easily reduce or extend to 3 or even 4 cups to make it thick or thinner consistency respectively.

secondly, do not forget to saute moong dal and chana dal lentils before pressure cooking. it will infuse the flavours to moong dal lentil.

lastly, you can ignore spices and green chillies if you are serving it to toddlers or young kids. And add any choice of vegetables in it to make it more tasty and healthy.

Finally, I am sure you will love to try some more simple recipes. Must visit my blog category Beginners cookbook you will find easy to manage recipes like.

Daal Khichadi- One Pot Meal

Recipe by MINAL SHARMA

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

For Toddlers
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup moong dal dhuli
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon hing powder also know as asafoetida
For Tempering :
1 tsp Ghee
1/2 tsp Cumin seed
1/4 tsp asafetida
For Adults
1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup chana dal
1/4 cup moong dal
1 cup of mix vegetables of your choice, I took cauliflower,peas and carrot.
salt to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
For Tempering :
1 tsp Ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 whole red chilli
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 green chili finely chopped
1 large tomato chopped
4-5 garlic pods peeled and crushed
red chilli to taste

Directions

Take 1/2 cup rice and 1/2 cup moong dal in a bowl.
Soak it in enough water for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, drain the water and set aside.
For Toddlers :
Add 1 Tbsp ghee and roast dal then add the rice and dal to a pressure cooker and add around 3.5 to 4 cups water.
Add salt and turmeric powder and pressure cook on high heat for 5- whistles.
The rice and dal will cook and be very soft and mushy, set aside.
Add Ghee and Khichadi is ready.
For Adults :
Heat pressure cooker on medium heat, add ghee.
Once the ghee is hot, add whole red chilli, cumin seeds and asafetida. Wait till cumin seeds start sizzling.
Add chopped ginger,garlic and green chili. Saute for 30 seconds or so or till the ginger starts turning light golden brown in color.
Add chopped tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes, you don’t want the tomatoes to get too mushy.
Add the rice and dal to a pressure cooker and add around 3.5 to 4 cups water.
Add salt,turmeric powder, red chilli and pressure cook on high heat for 5- whistles.
The rice and dal will cook and be very soft and mushy.
Mix till well combined, adjust salt to taste.
Garnish with cilantro and serve the moong dal khichdi with some extra ghee on top. Also it’s usually served with some papad, achar (pickle) and yogurt on the side.