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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Savoury Rice with lentils and peas (Toor dall khichedi )

Khichedi is a traditional Gujarati comfort dish. Khichedi is one of those dishes you make at home for your self when you are feeling lazy or not too well.  It's a very easy to eat and digest kind of a dish. It's also a very healthy dish with the right amount of carbohydrates and protein.

It is usually made from an equal mixture of rice and lentils such as split mung beans or toor dall.  Recipe for mung dall Khichedi can be found here.

This is a recipe for Khichedi made with Toor Dall and Basmati  Rice. 

Ingredients for 4 servings:

Half a cup of Toor Dall
Half a cup of Basmati Rice
2-3 tablespoons of peas
2 small green chillies - chopped lengthwise
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
6-7 curry leaves
1-2 tablespoons Cooking oil
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
2-3 Cloves
1 inch of cinnamon stick


Method:

1.   Mix the rice and toor dall, wash it well and soak in cold water for as long as you can. I tend to put this soak in the morning ready to cook for when I get home in the evening.

2.  Wash the rice and dall mixture again until the water is clear.

3.  Heat the oil in a saucepan.  Add the cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon and allow them to pop and get a bit dark in colour.

4.  Add in one cup of water and cover the saucepan.  If you are not used to seasoning or tempering then, let turn off the heat, and add the water and cover the saucepan to avoid any oil sputtering on you.

5.  Remove most of the water from the khichedi mixture and add it to the tempered water.  Add the salt, turmeric, curry leaves and the green chillies. Also add the  green peas.  You don't need to add the green chillies or the peas but I add them to give the khichedi a bit of colour.  Stir the mixture.

6.  At this stage, you can either cook the khichedi at a low heat keeping an eye on the khichedi. (You may need to add half a cup of extra water to it if the dall isn't cooked).

7.  OR...... do what I do....Transfer the khichedi to the microwave for 10 minutes and check . This is what my khichedi looked like after 10 minutes.   It almost looks like pilau rice.

8. Lightly fluff up the khichedi and add half a cup of water to the khichedi and cook it again for a further 10 minutes.

9. The khichedi is now ready to serve.

10.   The khichedi can be served with potato curry and rotli or bhakri.

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BHARELLA MUTTER BHAT

Bharella mutter bhat translated means - Rice cooked with vegetables that have been stuffed with spices.   In this recipe, the vegetables are stuffed with several spices.   The origins of this recipe are in East Africa.  This is a favourite recipe of my husband and his mum taught me how to make this bharela mutter bhat.  I have never known anyone else make this dish so would be very interested to hear from anyone who does make this dish.


Ingredients to make mutter bhat for 4 people.
For the stuffing:

2 tablespoons coriander powder
2 tablespoons cumin powder
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chilly powder (can use less if you so wish)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon cooking oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon of crushed and blended garlic
1 tiny piece of jaggery

For the mutter bhat:

1 cup of basmati rice
6 small potatoes
5 small aubergines
1 onion
half a cup of peas ( I used frozen peas)
half a cup of diced carrots ( I used frozen carrots)
1 tablespoon of cooking oil (I used sunflower oil)

Method

1.  Wash and soak the rice in cold water for 20 minutes or more if possible.

2.  Prepare the masala for the stuffing. Add everything listed for the stuffing in a microwave dish and cook it for one minute, remove and stir.

3.   Wash and prepare the vegetables.   Slice the potatoes and aubergines and stuff them with the spice mixture.  Cut the onions into large pieces and arrange all the vegetables in a microwave dish as shown below: (use a fairly smart cooking dish as this bhat is usually served straight at the table)

4. Drain the water from the rice and add it on top of the vegetables:

5. Add one cup of water to the mixture. Also add half a teaspoon of salt.

6.   Add the frozen peas and carrots on top of this mixture.

7. Add any remaining spicy mixture on top of  the vegetables and rice

8.  Using a fork, mix the spices and cook the bharella bhat in the microwave for 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon of cooking oil to the mixture.

9.  The rice takes 25 minutes in a fast microwave.  I suggest that you check the bhat every ten minutes to ensure it is cooking well.  You can prick the potatoes with a knife to check if they are cooked. At no time, stir the mixture.

10.  Cooking in the microwave, seals in all the flavours and the aroma when this dish was cooking was out of this world.

11.  The rice should be served straight from the microwave dish  ensuring  that the vegetables do not get squashed.

12.  The rice can be eaten with yogurt or kadhi and hot chapattis.

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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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