Fridge raid khichri

The unofficial national dish of India, khichri (or khichdi) is a spiced stew of yellow lentils and rice. Widely considered as highly nutritious and easily digestible, this dish is frequently prepared for babies, the elderly or those recovering from an illness. This version from Gunjan Aylawadi is served with fridge raid sautéed vegetables, chilli oil & papadams.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  3

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• ½ cup sona masuri rice or gobindobhog (substitute for short-grain rice)
• ½ cup yellow mung daal (split yellow lentils)
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 small green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
• ½ carrot, finely chopped
• 1 potato, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 cups (750 ml) hot water
• salt, to taste
• 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
• 1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

For the tadka 

• ghee, for cooking
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 whole dried red chilli
• Hing (asafoetida), for seasoning

To serve

• Sautéed green vegetables to serve (see Note), fried shallots, fried garlic, storebought Indian sweet lime pickle, papadams

Instructions

1. Wash the rice and mung daal well, then place into a large bowl and soak for 10-15 minutes.

2. While the rice and lentils are soaking, heat a pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add the ghee, cumin seeds, chilli, carrot and potato and cook, stirring, for 7-8 minutes, or until the potato is golden.

3. Drain the rice and lentils, then transfer to the pressure cooker with the hot water, turmeric and a generous pinch of salt.

4. Pressure cook on high pressure for 10 – 15 minutes (this will depend on your pressure cooker), until the lentils and rice are cooked and softened.

5. While the khichri is cooking, prepare your vegetables to use up from the fridge (see Note) and set aside.

6. To make the tadka, heat a generous amount of ghee in a medium frying pan, then add the cumin, chilli and a pinch of hing (asafoetida) and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove from the heat and set aside.

7. Once the khichri is cooked, season to taste with salt. If using kale chips (see Note), stir through with the finely chopped herbs. Spoon the tadka over the khichri.

8. Serve the khichri with sautéed vegetables, fried shallots, fried garlic, sweet lime pickle and papadams.

Notes

• This can be prepared with a large saucepan rather than a pressure cooker. Simply repeat the steps up to step 3, then cook the mung daal for 10-15 minutes until half-cooked, then add the rice and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, or until tender.
• Use any seasonal vegetables you like, sautéed or oven-roasted to use up from the fridge, such as kale, broccoli, green beans, peas. This recipe used homemade kale chips which can be stirred through the khichri and tossed sautéed greens with charred lime, parsley and coriander to serve on the side of the khichri.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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