Friday was a write off.
I went to two Bond parties on Thursday night and got so drunk that I could barely lift my head on Friday. But did the world care? No. Instead it served up an achingly long work day that ended with a painfully difficult client meeting. Wonderful, really…
So at the end of it all, I decided to cook fellow sufferer the partying hubby a warming Indian rice and lentil dish called khichdi (pronounced: khich-ri).
Khichri is traditionally served on cold, rainy days or when you are unwell. It is highly nutritious – packed full of proteins and carbohydrates and the goodness of the vegetables you chose to add to it. It is also very low in masalas, when compared to a standard curry or pulao, so very easy on the taste buds and the tummy. Perfect for a hangover!
There are lots of different ways of cooking khichdi. The basic premise is that rice and lentils are cooked together. The masalas and vegetables added vary from family to family, depending on what they prefer. The accompaniments also vary, Parsis have it with a prawn dish, Bengalis have a selection of fried vegetables, while some just prefer it with a dollop of yoghurt and some pickle.
Here is my uber simple recipe to cheer two up on a miserable day:
Half cup rice
Quarter cup red lentils (masoor)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1″ cinammon
4 cloves
4 cardamoms
1 tsp whole cumin
1 bay leaf
Half tsp turmeric powder
3 cups of water
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Wash the rice and lentils well and mix together. Heat the oil and when hot fry the cinammon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf. When the leaf starts going brown, add the whole cumin and let it sizzle up.
Then add the onion and fry well until it starts going brown. Chuck in the turmeric and give the masalas a good stir.
Add the rice and lentils, and fry for a minutes stirring the masala into the mixture evenly. Add some salt at this stage.
Lower the flame to a medium heat, add the water, cover and cook. During this time, you can add raw carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, peas etc to make the dish even more healthy.
When the lentils lose their shape and the rice is cooked, your khichdi is ready. It should have a runny consistency.
7 Comments
I love your site and have been reading you ever since Sam mentioned you over at Becks and Posh. I’ve tried my hand at a few indian dishes in the past, but I love your simplified approach.
I recently bought a bag of red lentils, and was having trouble deciding what to do with them. This looks like a perfect thing dish to try them out with. Thanks!
My roommates and I love Indian food, but our knowledge of it is pretty much curry, so I searched online for quick Indian recipes and found your blog. It’s fantastic!
I tried this one night, but I didn’t have any turmeric and it still tasted great! It’s been pretty cold out lately and a dish of this again sounds so much better than tinned soup.
Hi Mallika,
I recently came upon ur blog while searching for kichdi recipe…Im indian and yes our name ryhmes and that pleased me no end!! No particular reason though. As a fellow expat wife I love surfing the net for nice indian recipes. im sure u will agree ,just being Indian does’nt make us good cooks automatically! Post marriage ive discovered that Indian cusine is humungous and there’s so much to try. Im from varanasi-UP and married to a mallu who was born and brought up in Chennai (to complicate matters) , so I have to juggle between dal-chawal and sambhar-chawal often….we now live in Dubai after having moved from London after a 3 yr deputation there and recently married (last yr) I absolutely love cooking and though im a home maker (now) cooking Ive realised has become a bit of a pain,since i gotta do it everyday …so a blog like urs serves to make life simpler and easy. Just becos i stay home doesnt mean i will slave over the stove and go bonkers….one thing tho, after london, dubai makes for a fantatsic change as far as procuring ingredients are concerned. Heck! the stuff here is better than india itself!! he he! We get everything, literally EVERYTHING, sometimes I dont even know myself ,whats on the shelf….thats indian cuisine for you! I make fairly complicated meals, sometimes 2 kinds to suit mine and hubby’s palate and suddenly realised khichdi – comfort food at its best and will suit us both when i dont wanna cook (again!) majorly. I know dishes from most regions but didnt know khichdi…weird huh? Anyhow, I better stop rambling and must commend u on ur site…..fun reading and easy tips…keep up the good work. I should send u some typical UP ka khana recipe maybe!!
best regards
harshika
Just discovered your site last week while I was craving khichuri….. I tried your recipe and it was soooo yummy!! Can’t wait to try all the rest now! Thanks for posting
Hey – it is one of those rainy days. i am sick with a cold and a raging fever. I stopped by to get a recipe for khichidi. It was really good. I would suggest a dash of hing when you are frying thecloves etc.
BTW hang me for this – but you look hot
your recipe was quick and very easy. The dish turned out to be very tasty. Thank you.
Hi, my son loves to eat khichdi any time, any day. So, whenever there are only 2 of us at home i luv making khichdi and eating as it can be done quickly and also yummy::)) when served hot….
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