Friday 24 August 2012

Dieter's Delight - Dal Kichdi

Yes I am on a diet, notwithstanding the fact that I dined at Crimson Chakra tonight. I had soup and dessert (the elaneer souffle, of course; too bad I couldn't resist this one) and I didn't miss my workout. (And I stepped into Gormei Market to say hello to Sriram and he goes - 'I thought you were on a diet?')

This is one of my all time favorite one-pot dish. Absolutely easy to make and tastes pretty good. The below recipe is a variation of the Gujarati Kichdi (served usually with kadhi, achar and roasted papad). Kichdi is a comfort casserole, more like our paruppu sadham or pongal, but loaded with the goodness of dal and vegetables.

This recipe serves 1.5 people ;-)

Wash and soak half cup of moong dal, about 2 tsp rice and a few tsp of masoor dal (red lentils).

Chop vegetables of your choice - typically onion, potato, cabbage, beans, carrot & peas. Saute them in a teeny bit of oil, along with some cumin, one bay leaf (optional), some cloves (optional), salt, 1 chopped green chilli, a pinch of red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and some turmeric. I also added the left over sprouts & mushroom mixture from last night's dinner.

Now, add all this to one big pot, add about 2 1/4 cups of water, some salt and pressure cook for about 7 - 8 whistles or more. I keep in the electric cooker for 30 mins. Let it rest for a while. Mix (or should I say mash) well and garnish with finely chopped coriander.

Can be served as is, or with raita or achar / papad / vegetables.

Suggested serving: Add a tsp of ghee over the kichdi and watch it melt away into the gaps and make the dish yummier by leaps and bounds ;-) And that's my lunch box in the picture! 





9 comments:

  1. I have always wanted to make kichidi, got recipes from many Northie friends, but yet to try.. this sounds fairly simple...

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    1. Aarti - This is not the authentic one. That has just cumin and dal! But this version works well as a single dish!

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  2. Comfort food..Looks delish! Adding just a tiny amount of rice in the khichdi is new to me,is that your modified 'dieting' version,Deepa? Seems good,cutting down the rice really helps! Kudos to you for going out and yet stopping with just the soup & dessert! I cud never do that!!

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    1. Shakthi - yes it helps hold the dal together :-) And yes, that's my modified version. :) I make this a lot :-)

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  3. The best kichdi i has was at Akshardam Temple @ Amdavad....but this looks fantastic too....btw, that small a lunch box? Dieting extreme?

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    1. Ha ha no.. not that small :) it's decent enough and I don't believe in extremes ;-) and I'm sure that must have been one awesome kichdi - being a gujju authentic dish!

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  4. The kichidi was looking so yummily desirable that i couldnt help making it today ,with ofc slight modification ,minus bay leaf minus cloves red chilly powder,plus bell pepper ,ginger ..and after completion two drops of lime so some slight tanginess:):).....

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Munch on....