Khichudi

Khichudi, the name reminds me of those rainy days and rainy nights. Khichudi had always taken a special soft corner in my heart. Mom used to cook it whenever it started and rain means no going out and so everybody at home. The whole family waiting impatiently for the hot and yummy porridge to be served at the dining table. I especially remember one night. It was raining cats and dogs; mom was very ill that night and couldn’t even get up from bed. But we were all in full mood to enjoy khichudi. So what to do? The answer came from my dad, let’s prepare it ourselves. Hearing that my mom started screaming, here to mention at that time my dad was a terrible cook, though with the passage of time and because of his transferable job he has learnt a lot about cooking. Now let’s go back to that night. So here we were me and my dad in the kitchen preparing porridge. That night at last we had to call a nearby restaurant to deliver food, that porridge was absolutely burnt and had to throw away everything.

Days have passed, a lot has changed, but still I can’t separate monsoon rain and porridge. I have learnt to prepare it myself and so whenever it rains, you can smell khichudi in my kitchen. Oh! I missed out something. To make this delicacy something more special don’t you forget to fry those hilsa pieces or at least an omelet. This combination is just awesome.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Rice (Chal): 150 gm

Pulses (Massor dal): 150 gm

Turmeric powder (Halud Guro): 1 teaspoon

Chilli powder (Sukhno Lankar guro): 1 teaspoon

Onions (Peyaj): 3

Garlic (Rasun): 4 /6 cloves

Ginger paste (Aada Bata)

Panch Phoron: 1 teaspoon

Green chilli (Kacha Lanka): 2/3 pieces

Mustard oil (Sarser tel): 2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Preparation:

So we are ready with the ingredients, now before we start just a few word. Cut one of the onions into half and the other two julienned. You can add some vegetables like potato , cauliflower (cut into small florets), carrot, peas, etc.

• Wash the rice and dal together.
• Take water in a handi and heat it just for 2 minutes.powder,
• Add the rice, dal, half cut onion, garlic cloves, vegetables, turmeric powder, chilli green chilli and salt.
• Now leave it and let it cook by itself.
• Add water whenever required.
• When the rice is almost cooked, heat oil in an wok and add the left out onions and panch phoron. Sauté it.
• Add this to the cooked rice.
• Then cook the rice for 2 minutes more and your porridge is ready to serve.

Khichudi with ladies finger fries
You can have it with any kind of fries, or even with chutney and papad (poppadam). There are some more ways to cook porridge, check out my following posts to find out how.

Tips: Porridge tends to become very dry, so before you take it out of the stove ensure that it has not become too dry and so leave out some water.