Khichedi, Spinach Curry and Kachumber - Comfort Dinner for tonight

Colleagues in my office had a cold and I seem to have caught it.  So I was in the mood for some good old fashioned comfort food.  Several of my facebook friends had suggested that I should have khichedi and kadhi.  Khichedi is really easy to make. The full recipe has been posted here.  You just mix an equal proportion of rice to green lentils and  (some friends like to use one portion rice to two portions lentils) add in salt to taste, some  turmeric, pinch of asafoetida and some water and cook it gently on a medium heat. Once cooked it can be served in lots of ways. Some add butter to it, some have it with various curries and some have it with milk or yogurt.  It's a real old fashioned dish which is very filling.  I served it with spinach curry as it's one of those curries which is also quick and easy to cook.  Whenever I have a cold, I really enjoy having an onion and tomato salad  with my dinner. I felt a lot better after I had my dinner.  Recipes for all the dishes mentioned in today's article are in my blog and I have given you the links wherever I could.

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Khichedi: Rice, lentils and mixed vegetable rice

Khichedi is another traditional Gujarati dish.    Khichedi is one of those dishes you make at home for your self but don't tend to serve it to guests - although it is now becoming fashionable to serve it "kathiawadi" ( a region of Gujarat) food in certain restaurants.  Its a dish one usually makes when they aren't feeling well.  It's a very easy to eat and digest kind of a dish.  It's also the dish babies are introduced to when they start eating solids.

It is usually made from an equal  mixture of rice and split mung beans.  I mix my khichedi with one part rice to two parts lentils and keep it in a bottle.

Ingredients ( serves 4):

1 cup rice
2 cups of  split mung bean lentils with the husks on
1 cup of mixed vegetables ( carrots, peas chopped finely){Optional}
1 teaspoon salt
half teaspoon turmeric
Some butter

Method:

1.  Mix the rice and mung bean lentils and wash them well.

2. Add 4 cups of water to the mixture and start cooking the khichedi on a medium heat.

3. Add the salt and turmeric to the mixture.

4. Add the mixed vegetables to the mixture.

5. Once the khichedi starts cooking and the water is absorbed- turn the heat to low.( keep checking the khichedi whilst it is cooking (but do get tempted to keep stirring it)- in case you need to add more water)

6. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the khichedi, cover the dish and allow to cook on a low for 20 minutes. Khichedi is usually cooked until it becmes soft and mushy but shouldn't get too dry.  Keep checking to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan.

7.  Khichedi  should be served  hot with a knob of butter.  It can also be eaten on its own but the true kathiawadi style is to eat it with  some potato and onion curry, chappatis and papad!!. 

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