Six wonderful Khichdi recipes!

Six khichdi recipes to delight your taste buds this rainy season, from Mini Ribeiro.

The monsoon is when we all crave piping hot food.

And there can be no better comfort food than khichdi.

A one pot meal, it is nutritious with an abundance of carbohydrates, proteins and all that the body needs.

These need not be the basic dal and rice combination. One can jazz it up with millets, vegetables, even meat and sea food.

My six favourite easy-to-make khichdi recipes from chefs across the country.

Amish Khichdi

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tbsp mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 whole dry red chilli
• 2 bay leafs
• 1 medium size onions, chopped
• 1/4 tsp garlic paste
• A paste made of turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder in water.
• Chopped tomatoes (optional)
• Par-boiled cauliflower, carrot, french beans, peas and potato
• Salt to taste
• A mixture of rice and masoor dal: 1 cup of rice and dal each (washed, soaked and prepared separately)

For garnishing

• Ghee as needed
• Chopped coriander leaves
• A pinch of garam masala

Method

• Heat mustard oil in a pan.
• Add cumin seeds and let it crackle. Add dry red chillies and bay leaves.
• Add chopped onion and garlic paste. Saute well.
• Add the masala paste. Saute further.
• Add tomatoes (if using) and fry for five minutes.
• Add par-boiled vegetables and saute for two to three minutes.
• Place the rice and dal mixture, salt and water. Mix well and let it simmer for five to seven minutes.
• Cover the pan with a lid and let it sweat for five minutes.
• Pour it in a serving dish. Sprinkle a pinch of garam masala, chopped coriander leaves and ghee.
• Serve hot with accompaniments like baingan bhaja (fried eggplant), papad and sweet tomato chutney.

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Lotus Seed and Broken Wheat Khichdi

Ingredients

• 60 gm lotus seed
• 100 gm broken wheat
• 20 gm salt
• 100 gm ghee
• 8 green chillies, slit
• 15 gm fresh coriander, chopped
• 40 gm onion, chopped
• 20 gm ginger, chopped
• 50 gm tomato, chopped
• 15 gm cumin seeds
• 20 gm garlic, chopped
• A piece of lime
• 1 lotus stem, sliced and fried

Method

• Wash the broken wheat properly.
• Take a pan and pour enough water to boil the broken wheat. Cook till wheat softens. Keep aside.
• Heat ghee in another pan. Add cumin seeds and let it crackle.
• Add onion, ginger and garlic. Saute it for some time.
• Add tomatoes and slit chilies. Cook for a while.
• Add broken wheat and lotus seeds. Let it cook it for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle salt and drizzle some lemon juice.

Place this mixture in a bowl.

To assemble

• Place the lotus seeds and fried lotus stem on top of it.
• Check the seasoning and serve hot.

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Vari or Samvat Khichdi

Ingredients

• 400 gm vari or samvat rice.
• 100 gm small potatoes, diced
• 40 gm roasted peanuts or cashew nuts
• 10 gm green chilli, chopped
• 20 gm ginger, chopped
• 5 gm cumin seeds
• 20 gm green coriander leaves, chopped
• 40 gm ghee
• 100 gm diced pumpkin (optional)
• 400 gm curd
• Salt to taste

Method

• Pick the vari rice carefully and wash it in running water.
• Soak the rice for 20 minutes.
• In a thick bottom pan, heat ghee and add cumin seeds.
• When it starts to crackle, add chopped ginger and chillies. Cook lightly.
• Add potatoes and pumpkin. Saute for three to four minutes.
• Add peanuts or cashew nuts.
• Add soaked and drained rice. Saute it in the pan for three to four minutes.
• Pour 800 ml water. Bring it to a boil. Season as per taste.
• As it slowly absorbs the water and and turns into porridge consistency, lower the flame. Cover with a lid and allow to cook for 10 more minutes.
• Mix lightly with a fork to fluff up the grains in the end.
• Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with chilled curd.

Note: This khichdi can be eaten when one's fasting as well.

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Butter Chicken Khichdi

Ingredients

For tomato gravy

• 50 gm tomatoes, diced
• 20 gm cashew nuts
• 1 tbsp watermelon seeds
• 15 gm Kashmiri chilli
• 3 gm ginger paste
• 3 gm garlic paste
• 5 gm butter
• 30 gm tomato puree
• 5 gm oil
• Salt to taste

For Butter Chicken Khichdi

• 70 gm chicken tikka
• 100 gm steamed rice
• 100 gm tomato gravy (that will be prepared)
• 2 gm black pepper powder
• 10 gm cream
• 10 gm butter
• Few coriander leaves (for garnishing)
• 10 gm mawa
• 2 gm kasuri methi
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• Chilli powder to taste

Method

For tomato gravy

• Toss tomatoes and onions in a pan.
• Grind to a paste and keep aside.
• Grind cashew nuts and watermelon seeds to a fine paste. Keep aside.
• In a pan, add butter, tomato and onion paste, tomato puree, ginger paste, garlic paste and Kashmiri chilli powder.
• Add the cashew and melon seed paste. Let it simmer for few minutes.

For Butter Chicken Khichdi

• Add tomato gravy to the pan.
• Place the chicken tikka. Add butter and kasuri methi.
• Add sugar and chilli powder as per taste. Add black pepper powder.
• Add cream and rice.
• Garnish with mawa, kasuri methi and coriander leaves.
• Serve with kachumber salad (onion-tomato-cucumber salad tossed with Indian spices and herbs) and papad.

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Oats and Tuna Khichdi

Ingredients

• 100 gm oats
• 50 gm tuna, tinned
• 2 gm green chillies, finely chopped
• 20 gm coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 50 gm onion, chopped
• 1 small lemon
• 10 ml olive oil
• 10 gm parmesan cheese
• 10 gm mozzarella cheese
• Salt to taste

Method

• Soak oats for five minutes in water and drain it.
• Heat olive oil in a pan.
• Add onions and saute until transparent.
• Add green chillies. Saute for a minute.
• Add soaked oats and around 100 ml water.
• Cover and cook until the oats are soft. Add more water only if required.
• Add chopped coriander and grated mozzarella cheese. Mix well. Adjust seasoning.
• Add tuna flakes. Mix further.
• Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

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Seb aur Gosht ki Khichdi

Ingredients

• 300 gm lamb chunks
• 2 and 1/2 litre water
• 1 1/4 ground garlic
• 8 green cardamom
• 4 black cardamom
• 6 cloves
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder
• 1 1/2 tsp fried onion paste
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1/2 cup desi ghee
• 1/2 tsp black cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp dry mint leaves
• 1 cup rice
• 1 cup masoor dal, washed
• 1 cup moong dal, washed
• 1/2 cup tur dal, washed
• 2 red apples, sliced
• Salt to taste

Method

• Boil water in a large pan.
• Add lamb and cook. Make sure you occasionally remove the scum that rises to the surface.
• Once the water becomes clear and all the scum is removed, add garlic and continue to cook.
• Add salt and cook the lamb until half done.
• Boil soaked dal and rice together with enough water either in a pressure cooker or in a pan. Keep aside.
• Add green and black cardamom, cloves, turmeric powder, ginger powder, onion paste, yoghurt and red chilli powder to the pan with lamb. Stir well.
• Add boiled rice and dal. Stir further and lower the flame.
• Add ghee and let the lamb cook until it becomes tender.
• Add the sliced apple pieces in the end. Let it cook for five more minutes.
• Serve hot with mint raita.

• Check out lots more recipes here!

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