Khichdi is such a comfort food for Indians. There are many regional variations, but at the base of all khichdis is a combination of rice and lentils making it a fantastic one-pot meal.
If you are working long hours and want a simple, no-brainer meal, this is an easy recipe to try.
Prep Work
If you are able to get everything ready all the way until the final cooking – hot khichdi is only 10 minutes away at mealtime.
Save time by doing these steps ahead of time:
- Grind ginger + green chilli paste – No more scrounging for ginger and green chillies in the refrigerator in the rush hours.
- Saute’ing onion – Malliard browning adds sweetness to dish and cannot be rushed.
- Measuring out rice, lentils and water – No more cluttering ingredients in the counter top when you are super busy.
Step by Step Pics:
Peel and chop ginger, green chillies for the recipe OR create pastes in bulk.
Either finely chop them or make them into paste in bulk and save the rest for other recipes
Prep your veggies by chopping your onion and tomatoes.
You can also upgrade the health of this recipe by adding fiber rich veggies like zucchini, bottle gourd, capsicum etc. Please try to avoid potato as it increases the glycemic index of this dish.
Saute your veggies and spices to achieve Malliard reaction (browning). This adds depth of flavor and complexity to the dish rather than just adding all ingredients at the same time.
Add in the rice and lentils and the required water. Shut off the heat.
All set, except for final cooking
Take this mixture and keep in the fridge either directly with the cooker or in another vessel.
If there is no space, store in smaller container in refrigerator
Cooking Stage
8-12 hours later – This is the easy part. No peeling, no chopping, no sauteing – Just cook!!
Khichdi for dinner – Place the cooker on the stove as soon as you get home. It will be done by the time you wash up and gather your family around for dinner.
Khichdi for breakfast – Place in on the stove as soon as you wake up. It will be done by the time you pack up lunch boxes and putter around the kitchen unloading dishes, drinking your morning coffee or tea.
How awesome is that?!!
Khichdi is ready!!
Recipe
Get spices ready, saute onions and measure out rice, lentils to make this easy, prep-ahead khichdi. Have hot, delicious khichdi ready in under 10 minutes
- 1 cup Moong dal
- 1 cup Rice
- 1 in Ginger Finely chopped or paste
- 2 Green Chillies Finely chopped or paste
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 2 pinches Hing
- Salt To Taste
- 2-3 tsp Oil
- 1 Onion Large
- 2 Tomatoes
- 1 Cup Chopped Veggies Preferably low carb vegetables
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Heat 2 tsp oil in (straight up) pressure cooker or pan. Add cumin.
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Once the cumin splutters, add onions, green chilli and ginger. Saute till onions turn translucent.
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Add tomatoes and stir. Add turmeric powder, salt and asafoetida and saute till the tomatoes softens.
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Add rice, moong lentils and measured amount of water to the pan
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Turn off the heat
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Transfer the contents to a closed vessel or keep it as-is in pressure cooker (depending on available space) and refrigerate this mix.
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Pressure cook the khichdi on a high flame for 3-4 whistles.
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Holler out - “Food's ready!!!”
Additional Notes
- I add a spoon of melted butter for my kids, for the additional oomph.
- My husband and I eat it with pickle and kadhi. Kadhi is the world’s easiest stew (my humble opinion, totally debatable, of course). I have to yet post a recipe of it, but here’s a very good one that I use.
- Ideally a chopped salad would be a wonderful healthy addition. But hey, on a busy workday, if you have managed kichadi and kadhi, I think you can, rightfully, call the meal a success. But, just in case, you have time, a simple cucumber + tomato salad would add fiber and fullness to the meal.
Conclusion/ Comments
Please share your thoughts and comments down below. As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
Two famous Indian brands for pressure cooker are Prestige and Hawkins.
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Nice presentation proud of you
Thank you Amma!!