Daliya Khichdi

 

 

As much as I love cooking, I must admit I don't enjoy making elaborate, time consuming (but delicious nevertheless) meals everyday. They are reserved for special days, weekends and days when I have "sudden spells" of creativity, experimentation and the courage to fail. Like the day we made Rasgullas! 

Anyway, on most other days, I like cooking regular dishes (you know like Rice, Roti, dal and a curry) that don't take up too much time but are healthy. I especially love one pot recipes because usually you just dump everything into the cooker or instant pot and your lunch/dinner is sorted in twenty minutes. This is my one such go to recipe. A healthier take on the regular khichdi, it also incorporates all the veggies one would otherwise not eat. And I am very excited because for the first time ever, I've tried (a small bout of that sudden spell of experimentation happened you see :) ) to show a step by step - "how to" of the recipe.  I really hope you like it! 

Yes, yes, I know I picked an easy recipe...now let it go already!

Ingredients:

(Makes two bowls)

3/4th cup Daliya (broken wheat) 

3/4th cup yellow moong dal

1 tablespoon chopped ginger

2 onions chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

Chopped vegetables, I used the below but you can experiment with more/less ( alternatives are - peas, potatoes, bottle gourd)

2 Carrots 

7-8 beans

A handful of spinach ( I had some leftovers hence I used it)

1 capsicum 

Salt and chilli powder to taste

A pinch of turmeric powder

Oil and mustard seeds for tempering 

Water to cook

1 teaspoon ghee (optional)

Step 1 - Wash the daliya and moong dal together and soak in 3 glasses of water and keep aside while you chop the vegetables.

Step 2 - Chop all the vegetables needed.

Step 3 - Heat oil in a pressure cooker (medium sized) and once it is hot, add the mustard seeds.

Step 4 - When it starts to crackle, add the chopped ginger and saute for 1 min. After that, add the chopped onions and cook till golden brown. 

Step 5 - After 2-3 minutes, add salt as per taste and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Step 6 - Add the tomatoes and cook till they turn a bit mushy (not too much)

Step 7 -add the turmeric powder and the chilli powder as per taste and cook for another 2 minutes. 

Step 8 - Add all the vegetables, stir and cook for another 2 minutes. 

Step 9 - Once the veggies have been cooked for 2 minutes, add 3.5 ups of water using the same measuring cup used for the daliya and moong dal. the ratio of dal+ daliya to water is 1:2 but I added a half cup extra because the vegetables would soak up some of the water. 

Step 10 - let the water come to a boil.  Drain the water from the dal and daliya mixture and add to the cooker. (You could add the same soaked water instead of fresh water as well but I didn't.). At this stage, check for salt and add more if necessary.

Step 11 - Close the lid of the cooker and pressure cook it for 4-5 whistles. 

Step 12 - Once the cooker has cooled, open the lid, scoop half of the Khichdi into a bowl, top it with 1 teaspoon of ghee and serve!