A perfect blend of proteins and carbohydrates make this perfect dish - Khichadi. And the recipe below is of the Bengali style, coming from the East Indian heartland. Khichadi (as made using procedure stated below) can serve two people. It comprises of equal proportions of moong dal (yellow) and rice. The rice used in Bengal is a certain variety called Gobindobhog Chal. This rice has a characteristic aroma and softens so well, becomes mushy with moong dal to yield an easy to swallow and easy to digest khichadi. This rice variety is not available in South India, however one can substitute it with Ghee rice (a small grained variety), normally available in any general grocery stores in Bangalore.
How to prepare Khichadi
Ingredients
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup yellow moong dal
2 inch long ginger piece (cut into thin slices)
3 green chillies (chopped finely)
1 medium sized tomato (chopped finely)
2 tsp jeera
2 tsp black pepper
Water to cook well
3 tbsp Ghee for tadka
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
Procedure
1. Dry roast rice in a thick kadai (no need for it change color), just to the extent that the rice becomes a little crisp in appearance.
2. Dry roast moong dal with a pinch of turmeric in the same kadai.
3. Add both to a thick bottomed pan/cooker vessel. You can even transfer it to a vessel and cook it in pressure cooker with 2 glasses full of water for 3 whistles.
4. If cooking in an open pan, then this process will be slow and more glasses of water will be required to ensure that the rice is softly cooked and mashes completely well with the dal.
5. When the rice dal mixture becomes soft and mushy, grind pepper and jeera (dry) in a mixer and add this to the khichadi.
6. In the kadai, take ghee, heat it well, add cut pieces of ginger, tomato and green chillies and ensure that they are cooked well. Add required salt to this and transfer it all to the container with khicadi.
This last step adds a little tanginess and spice to the otherwise bland khichadi. If you do not prefer this for any reason, then one can stop with addition of required salt and with step 5 itself.
I cooked rice and dal with 2 glasses full of water in a vessel in my pressure cooker for 3 whistles. Then, upon cooling, I transferred the contents from pressure cooker to electric rice cooker (National Panasonic). In here, I added more water and kept cooking the khichadi, I added pepper-jeera ground mixture. Salt to taste and chillies/ginger/tomato fried in ghee were also added after few minutes to the khichadi in electric rice cooker.
You can prepare khichadi wholly in electric rice cooker itself without using a pressure cooker, just that the process will be slower and definitely it consumes power which comes so dear in Bangalore nowadays.
I would like to add that I learnt this recipe from my mother-in-law who spent about 26 years of her life in Calcutta, so the authenticity of the recipe is guaranteed :) Khichadi can be had along with Baigun Bhaja and Alu Bhaja, the recipes of which I am sharing on my blog at Baigun-bhaja-and-alu-bhaja
How to prepare Khichadi
Ingredients
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup yellow moong dal
2 inch long ginger piece (cut into thin slices)
3 green chillies (chopped finely)
1 medium sized tomato (chopped finely)
2 tsp jeera
2 tsp black pepper
Water to cook well
3 tbsp Ghee for tadka
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
Procedure
1. Dry roast rice in a thick kadai (no need for it change color), just to the extent that the rice becomes a little crisp in appearance.
2. Dry roast moong dal with a pinch of turmeric in the same kadai.
3. Add both to a thick bottomed pan/cooker vessel. You can even transfer it to a vessel and cook it in pressure cooker with 2 glasses full of water for 3 whistles.
4. If cooking in an open pan, then this process will be slow and more glasses of water will be required to ensure that the rice is softly cooked and mashes completely well with the dal.
5. When the rice dal mixture becomes soft and mushy, grind pepper and jeera (dry) in a mixer and add this to the khichadi.
6. In the kadai, take ghee, heat it well, add cut pieces of ginger, tomato and green chillies and ensure that they are cooked well. Add required salt to this and transfer it all to the container with khicadi.
This last step adds a little tanginess and spice to the otherwise bland khichadi. If you do not prefer this for any reason, then one can stop with addition of required salt and with step 5 itself.
I cooked rice and dal with 2 glasses full of water in a vessel in my pressure cooker for 3 whistles. Then, upon cooling, I transferred the contents from pressure cooker to electric rice cooker (National Panasonic). In here, I added more water and kept cooking the khichadi, I added pepper-jeera ground mixture. Salt to taste and chillies/ginger/tomato fried in ghee were also added after few minutes to the khichadi in electric rice cooker.
You can prepare khichadi wholly in electric rice cooker itself without using a pressure cooker, just that the process will be slower and definitely it consumes power which comes so dear in Bangalore nowadays.
I would like to add that I learnt this recipe from my mother-in-law who spent about 26 years of her life in Calcutta, so the authenticity of the recipe is guaranteed :) Khichadi can be had along with Baigun Bhaja and Alu Bhaja, the recipes of which I am sharing on my blog at Baigun-bhaja-and-alu-bhaja
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