Moong Dal Khichdi – a one pot dish…termed “comfort food” perfect for a monday eve dinner 😀 Technically its Maharashtrian dish but resembles our south indian pongal with added onion, tomatoes & garam masala…As such does not need any special side dish.. a simple applam / pickle will do for this, i always liked with fish fry or simple potato fry! My recipe here calls for 1:1 rice dal ratio which is how we like it at home… its much more tasty and healthy. You may cut down on the dal if you don’t prefer that way… but trust me… it will be good with more dal! Here is an upgraded version of our Pongal 😆
There is a south indian version Rava Khichdi
Ingredients
- Raw Rice – 1 cup
- Split Moong dal / Pachai paruppu – 1 cup
- Water – 4 cups
- Onion – 1/2 cup (chopped)
- Tomato – 1/4 cup
- Green chili – 3 (slit open)
- Ginger – 1 tablespoon (minced)
- Black peppercorns – 1/2 teaspoon
- Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Asafoetida – 1/2 teaspoon
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
- Cashews – 10
- Bay leaf – 1
- Cloves – 3
- Cinnamon – 1 small stick
- Cardamom – 1
- Curry leaves – 10
- Ghee – 2 tablespoons
- Oil – 1 tablespoon
- Salt – 1 + 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste)
Lets see how to make this Moong dal khichdi….
Before we proceed Soak rice and split yellow dal (moong) for atleast 3o to 45 minutes.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker pan and splutter cumin seeds, black peppercorns, then add in bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Sprinkle asafoetida. (You may fry cashews too at this stage.. but i would like to add it later)
Now add in chopped onion, green chili and ginger… saute well.
I am adding cashews now to keep it on the softer side rather than crisp.
Add in the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Saute well.
At this stage add in the soaked rice and dal and saute a little bit with the onion mixture.
Now add in 4 cups of water. (I have added 4 cups for 1 cup rice and 1 cup dal… this will keep the rice soft but hold its shape a bit when cooked, remember soaking for 30 minutes is a must ) If you wish to skip soaking and cook then add more water or if you wanna to keep it more mushy add in extra cup of water.
Put the lid on and pressure cook for 4 whistles and switch off.
Now in a separate tadka/thalippu pan, heat ghee and fry the curry leaves.
Add this to the cooked khichdi and mix.
Serve hot with choice of side! To be very honest… this goes well with MEEN VARUVAL / Meen karam or veg option is COIN POTATO FRY
Notes
- Serves 5
- Rice dal ratio is 1:1 to keep it tasty as well as healthy.
- Garam masala is optional but gives the extra punch.
- Cashews are optional but soaked cashews tend to blend well when eating than fried ones.
- Ghee is a must… no compromise on that! 🙂
Try our light dinner recipes… one pot dishes 🙂
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