Recently, Khichdi has been proposed to be the national dish of India. This humble dish has many varieties. Khichdi means a mix of everything and literally the dish comes like that. Traditionally, khichdi is made with rice, lentils, whole and ground spices, vegetables and ghee or coconut oil. As India is a diverse country and so is its cuisine. Hence, the look and recipe of khichdi keeps changing state wise.
Khichdi is one pot meal. It is a very nutritious and wholesome meal. This is a gluten free, almost vegan (skip the ghee and add coconut oil), light on stomach; can be made in a jiff.
When I was a kid, my mother used to make khichdi with different types of lentils. If not well, split moong dahl khichdi, which was a bit runny and less spicy, was the meal. On a regular day, for a change from regular dahl rice or curry and chapatti, split gram lentil with lots of aromatics and spices was the meal, accompanied by yoghurt, a dollop of ghee, pickle and lizzat papad, blissful and a complete meal. Few auspicious days also had special recipe for khichdi. So, for me khichdi always has been a special meal instead of a boring food for the sick.
Recently, a Guinness World record has been made: the culinary gems of India cooked 918 kilograms of khichdi at a food event in New Delhi. This simple and humble dish, got recognition at world level.
The khichdi recipe shared today is made with split Bengal gram and basmati rice and can be substituted with any other variety of rice available. For aromatics, I have used charred onions, ginger, garlic, chili and tomatoes. I have charred them on a gas stove but you can always grill them or skip that step all together. In spices, I have used Nidz Kitchen garam masala.
Ingredients
- Basmati rice – 2 cups
- Split Bengal gram – 3/4 cups
- Ghee/ coconut oi – 2 tbsps.
- Ginger knob – 2 inch
- Garlic cloves – 3-4
- Green chili – 1-2
- Tomatoes – 2 medium size
- Brown Onion – 2 medium size
- Nidz Kitchen Garam Masala – 2 tbsp
- Nidz Kitchen Biryani masala – 1/2 tsp.
- Bay leaves – 2
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp.
- Salt to taste
- Fresh coriander to garnish
Method
- Wash and soak the rice and lentils in 5 cups of water for 30 minutes.
- Roast the onions, ginger, garlic, chili and tomatoes on a gas stove or grill till charred. Leave them to cool and peel. (You may skip this step and chop or slice in raw form).
- Slice the onions; chop the ginger, garlic and chili. Peel the skin of tomatoes and roughly chop and keep aside.
- In a pressure cooker, heat the ghee; temper the cumin and bay leaves for 30 seconds. Sauté the sliced onions for 2 minutes, add ginger, garlic and chili. Fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, Nidz Kitchen garam masala and biryani masala. Fry till the oil start separating, approximately 5-6 minutes on a medium heat.
- Add the rice and lentils with the water and boil and add the salt as per taste. Pressure cook with one whistle if using a big cooker or 2-3 whistles if using a small size cooker.
You may use a pot also to cook, but the cooking time will be longer.
For the twist, you may use the dhuni/ smoking process for the smoky flavor. For that just heat a charcoal till red and when the khichdi is cooked, put a small steel bowl in the khichdi, place the red coal and pour a spoon of melted ghee on top and cover with a lid. Keep it covered for at least 1-2 minutes. Mix, garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.
For accompaniments, there is a phrase, “khichdi ke hain chaar yaar, dahi ,papad, ghee aur achaar”.
In English it means: Khichdi has four friends, Yoghurt, Poppadum, Ghee and Pickle i.e. it is mainly served with these four.
I have served this khichdi with Homemade Lemon pickle, a dollop of homemade ghee and yoghurt.
Hope you will enjoy cooking and relishing this simple yet delicious meal.
Happy Cooking
Nidz Kitchen
