One Pot Comfort: Khichdi

 I am itching to declare this as my invention but I am sure somebody has already made it, if not spoken about it. It’s like chancing upon Palak Paneer and feeling that you came up with it.

Ridiculous.

But this khichdi makes me very happy. It is a ‘vegetabled’ version of what I used to make when I had to cook just for myself and refused to invest beyond 10 minutes of prep. And this is comfort food of the most comforting kinds, especially on cold evenings.

 Recipe: Vegetable Khichdi

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Recipe Source: Cooked up (pun intended)

Serves: 2 people

You need:

1 big cup rice, soaked
A fistful of yellow moong dal, skinless, soaked with the rice (Soak time, 10 minutes)
1 capsicum, deseeded, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled, chopped
A fistful of green peas
1-2 green chillies chopped

1 inch stick cinnamon
2 green cardamoms, cracked open
3-4 cloves
3-4 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin/jeera seeds
1/2 tsp ajwain/carom seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder (optional)

Water
Ghee
Salt

Here’s how you make it:

– Heat some ghee in a small pressure cooker. Add turmeric. Add jeera, ajwain, bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom. Stir. I normally give everything a quick pounding in my mortar and pestle before tossing it all into the hot ghee, turmeric.

– Add the green chillies, onions, carrots, peas, capsicum. Stir well.

– Empty the rice and dal soaked into the cooker, give it all a nice stirring. Add your optional garam masala at this point. Or just skip to adding salt to taste, water and then pressure cook for 3 whistles.

 NOTE: When you are making regular rice in a pressure cooker, 2 whistles suffice. But dal needs cooking so its 3 for khichdi. If you have managed to soak your dal for an hour beforehand, 2 whistles should be more than enough.

– Serve hot with ghee, with raita, just curd, papads or pickle on the side.