Moong Dal Khichdi Recipes

KHICHDI RECIPE | MOONG DAL KHICHDI

Steps:

• Rinse and wash moong lentils and rice together.
• Soak both rice and lentils for 30 minutes in water.
• After 30 minutes, drain all the water and set aside.
• Heat ghee or oil in pressure cooker. Add cumin seeds. When cumin splutters then add onions.
• Sauté onions until translucent. No need to make onions light brown or golden brown.
• Once the onions become translucent, then add tomatoes, green chilli and ginger.
• Mix and add turmeric powder and asafoetida. Mix again and sauté until the tomatoes softens.
• Add the rice and moong lentils to the pressure cooker.
• Stir and sauté for a minute. Add water and season with salt.
• Mix well. Check the taste of the water and it should be slightly salty.
• Close the lid tightly and pressure cook on a high heat for 7 to 8 whistles or 8 to 9 minutes on medium-high to high heat.
• Switch off heat and wait. Let the pressure fall naturally in the cooker.
• When there is no pressure in the cooker, remove the lid and check the consistency. If it looks too thick, add some hot water and mix well.
• Keep on sim or low heat to simmer for a few minutes until you get the right consistency.
• The consistency can be adjusted as per your choice by adding less or more water. Some people prefer thick and some thin consistency.
• While serving drizzle 1 to 2 teaspoons of ghee on top while serving. Optional step.
• Serve moong dal khichdi hot or warm with curd (yogurt) and accompanying salad.
• Press the sauté function of your IP. Let the display read 'hot'. Add ghee or oil. Fry cumin seeds until they splutter.
• Add onions and sauté until they soften. Tip in the tomatoes, ginger, green chillies and sauté stirring often until tomatoes soften. Stir in the turmeric powder and asafoetida.
• Add soaked rice and lentils. Stir deglazing if needed.
• Pour 3.5 cups water and salt. Deglaze removing any stuck ingredients from the bottom of the pan.
• Seal with the IP lid and set the valve to the sealing position. Pressure cook on high pressure for 9 minutes. When you hear the beep sound, wait for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release lifting the valve carefully.
• Check the consistency. If it is too thick, add some hot water and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes using the sauté function. If it has a thin consistency, sauté for some more minutes until you get the desired consistency. Serve hot or warm.
• To make khichdi in a pan, follow all the directions as listed for the pressure cooker version in a pan until you add the rice and lentils.
• After you add the rice and lentils, give a good stir and sauté for a minute. Add 4 to 4.5 cups water and season with salt. Cover the pan and cook on a medium-low to medium flame until the lentils are softened and mushy.
• Keep a check while cooking and if the water has dried up with undercooked lentils, add some hot water and combine well. Cover and continue to cook.
• When the khichri is cooked, check the consistency. If thick, add some hot water and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. For a thin consistency, continue too cook for some more minutes.
• The sides that that pair great and make khichdi a satisfying complete meal are Curd (yogurt), Papad (roasted or fried), Pickle and Ghee - a teaspoon or two drizzled on top of the khichdi
• You can also serve it with any raita or salad. I like to to enjoy khichdi drizzled with some lemon juice and served with your choice of vegetable fries and with vegetable salad.
• I always prefer to eat and serve khichdi fresh as it can become dry and lumpy on cooling or after some hours.
• If you do end up with leftovers, you can store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to 1 day.
• I also prefer to reheat the dish in a saucepan instead of the oven so that I can add some water to thin it a bit and ensure everything is evenly heated before serving.
• On cooling khichdi does thicken and becomes lumpy, so you have to add some water to it while reheating.

MOONG DAL KHICHDI

Steps:

• 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.
• Add the rice and dal to a pressure cooker and add around 3.5 to 4 cups water.
• Add salt, turmeric powder and asafoetida and pressure cook on high heat for 5- whistles.
• The rice and dal will cook and be very soft and mushy, set aside.
• To another pan on meidum heat, add ghee and oil. You may use only oil to keep it vegan.
• Once the oil & ghee is hot, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Wait till cumin seeds start sizzling and mustard seeds pop up.
• Add chopped ginger and green chili. Saute for 30 seconds or so or till the ginger starts turning light golden brown in color.
• Add chopped tomatoes and green peas. Cook for 2 minutes, you don't want the tomatoes to get too mushy.
• Add the cooked rice and dal to the pan.
• Mix till well combined, add salt and adjust 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.