Lobia-black beans khichdi :)

Hi, everyone! Today i'll share another simple yet delicious khichdi with you. Khichdi is the ultimate comfort food to me, and thats what i crave for now.....This one is a twist on the most regular khichdi in my kitchen, which is moong and masoor daals cooked with white rice, usually Basmati, along with vegetables like matar/peas and a whole bunch of frozen vegetables, along with cumin, black pepper, cloves, ginger, turmeric and yes, ghee! Instead of using moong-masoor daal mix and white rice, i have used a mix of white lobia and black beans along with brown rice. The result is really yummy! So, here is how i make it:

We need:

• 1/2 cup soaked beans (i used black beans and lobia)
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh/frozen vegetables (your choice, i used cauliflower, broccoli and carrots)
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. of black peppers (whole) and cloves each
• 1 tsp. ginger (julienned)
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• Salt to taste
  
• 1 tsp. ghee

Wash rice and mix with soaked beans in a pressure cooker. Add the vegetables and 2 cups water, followed by the spices and salt. Mix and add the ghee. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles. Let the pressure cooker cool off. Enjoy the khichdi with dahi/curds and pickles of your choice.


You might like to try this preparation with moong-masoor daal mix as well. Its even simpler to prepare, the cooking time is only two pressure cooker whistles.


This khichri is my contribution for JFI-Rice, hosted by dear Sharmi at Neivedyam. JFI is an event that celebrates one special ingredient each month and is the proud brainchild of dear Indira from Mahanandi.

Mothaan di khichdi, Sukke aloo and Paneer di kadhi

Three dishes, so different from each other :). And all three are pretty simply, yet delicious! The first one, a very simple khichdi. Now, this khichdi is the simplest ode to this whole genre of dishes-dal+chawal=khichdi! As simple as this sounds :). Moth/matki and rice cooked together to creamy perfection with just some salt and ghee! Its a lovely meal, and is my favorite since childhood. My Bibiji used to make it a lot.....daal and rice slowly blending together on angeethi (movable earthen stove) and the final taste and aroma would come from moth, ghee and the smoke! Yes, food cooked on slow fire on an earthern stove has that distinct touch.....and sometimes, simple food can be the most delicious :). Anyway, years later, when i was in the hostel, i once wrote a letter to my Mom telling her how much i craved this khichdi. and in her really cute response she wrote, "You've to learn to cook, to eat something delicious". If it were chat, you would see some wink symbols after this ;). So yes, i love this one. I don't have an angeethi or a chullah (fixed earther stove), so i can't get that real smokey flavor, but hey, its still delish :)).

The next one, the sukki aloo sabzi is another quick eat and is a Multani style recipe. Sliced potatoes cooked with dry spices. Yummy and tangy :). The last one, is one of those really old fashioned dishes, sounds quite odd, but is real easy to make and easier to fall in love with. The only pre-requisites: sour curds and freshest possible paneer :). I have had it a few times, long ago.....The memories of this dish were rekindled again during a casual conversation with an acquaintance, who fondly mentioned how his Mom makes the best paneer kadhi :).

So lets start:

Mothaan di khichdi:


We need:

• 1/2 cup moth/matki (soaked 1 hr. in warm water)
• 1/2 cup rice (non-basmati, i used brown rice)
• salt to taste
• a pinch of red chilli powder and garam masala
• 1-2 tsp. ghee

Pressure cook the moth daal in 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups water(4-5 whistles) till its really soft. Add the washed rice and add some more water. Add salt and chilli powders to taste, a tsp. ghee and stir. Pressure cook for another 2-3 whistles. The result should be a liquidy, creamy khichdi.

Bubbling with joy ;)

Blend in the remaining ghee and enjoy with mango pickles, dahi and papad. Occasionally also with raw onions (broken with your fist, pendu/rural style). The khichdi looks gorgeous with its reddish color and tastes great!

Sukke aloo:

We need:

• 2-3 potatoes (sliced into rounds)
• 1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp. coriander seed powder
• 1/4 tsp. ajwain (ground coarse)
• a pinch of strong heeng/asfoetida
• 1 tsp. sunddh/saunth/dry ginger powder
  
• 1 tsp. amchoor (traditionally its anardana/pomegranate seeds, i was out of it so i used amchoor)
  
• Salt and red chilli powder to taste
• Turmeric
• 1 tsp. oil
• Crushed, dried poodna/pudina/mint leaves or mint leaves powder (to taste)

This is a low-fat adaptation :). The original calls for deep frying potatoes. I usually either bake the slices or stir-fry and then cook with a lil' drizzle of water. So, heat some oil and splutter the cumin seeds, add the rest of the spice powders except amchoor. Add the potato slices and stir on medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Add amchoor, drizzle enough water, so that the slices do not stick to the pan. Lower the heat and cover to cook till the slices are tender. Don't forget to stir a bit in between. Finally, add the pudina powder or crushed dry leaves and serve hot as a side dish :).



One of the interesting recipes i found on the internet is a coriander take on this classic and involves baking. Its called Multani Aloo (the author says that this dish gets the name from Multani masala, but for some reason doesn't have the masalas like ajwain, heeng and sunddh, which are very popular in Multani food). Paging Rachna :).

Paneer di kadhi:

We need:

• 10-15 cubes of fresh paneer
• 1 and 1/2 cup buttermilk or beaten curd (sour preferred)
• 3 tbsp. besan
• 1/4 tsp. each Shah-jeera (black cumin), methi dana (fenugreek seeds) and kalonji (nigella seeds)
  
• a pinch of strong hing
• Turmeric and red chilli-powder (to taste)
• Kasuri methi
• 2 tsp. oil

Prepare the besan-curds mix by first beating the curd smooth and then slowly blending in the besan. Heat 1 tsp. oil and add methi dana and heeng. Add the cubed paneer and stir till the cubes are lightly toasted. If you are using fried paneer then just throw the cubes in and proceed to the next step. Add the turmeric and chilli powder and mix. Reduce the heat to very low and stir in the besan-curds mix slowly. Stir again and add some water and mix thoroughly. Bring this to a boil and cook on low heat till the kadhi thickens. Now with the remaining oil (or melted ghee, if you will) prepare another quick tadka of shah-jeera and kalonji and pour it over the kadhi. Stir in some kasuri methi and garnish with hari-mirch. Enjoy this kadhi hot with rice or pulaav (and if you are like me, even with a sourdough panini sandwich).



Indira posted a recipe with paneer and dahi some time back, and i find it to be a kinder, gentler version of a kadhi. That dish requires addition of beaten dahi in the end and has no besan. Do try that as well, because it is a lovely one :).


So folks, enjoy these yummy dishes :).

And, these dishes are my contribution to RCI: Punjab, an event hosted this month by Richa (As dear as salt) and originally envisaged by Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine, to celebrate the regional cuisines of India.

Ek Khichri, Ek Raita :)

If i were to ask you, what would you like to have for a comfort food, i am sure the votes would mostly go to different combos of lentils and rice-either cooked together as khichri or cooked separately and served together like daal-chawal :). Be it the good old daal chawal or the different style of khichris cooked plain or with veggies, bland or with spices (the most common khichri that i make), bisi-bele baath, Ven Pongal.....the list goes on. Khichri, my dear, is an all time comfort food.....the comfort reminding me of the Mom's hug and the way she used to feed me when i was lil'. and all those lovely childhood tales that go with such yummy food.....Khichri converts even the most unsuspecting folks into sneaking an extra helping into their platters :).

Our folk lore is full of stories to strengthen this claim. Sample this one, for instance.....in this story, the humble sparrow (the bird thats often portrayed as completely sharif and honest) tries to gobble up her partner crow's share too! So, once upon a time a chidiya (sparrow) and kauwa (crow) set about to make khichri-chidiya brought the daal and kauwa brought the rice. Together the dished out the most amazing khichri ever. Now, the chidiya was really drooling and impatient.....and a bit greedy, secretly thinking of gobbling some of the kauwa's share too. and her impatience leads her to open the steaming hot khichri vessel.....scalding her tail!! She goes chin, chin mera poonjha sadiya (chin, chin my tail's burnt) and the kauwa goes "kyon paraya khichhar khadha" (why did you gobble someone else's khichhar).....you get the picture!

Today, i'll share a favorite khichri of mine. Mom used to make it all the time-and i suspect that it is inspired by Gujarati Cuisine given its pulaav like consistency (because Punju khichris are usually more liquidy, and my Mom lived in Gujarat for a long time-so, put the two together and it gives me the possible origins). So, today we'll make the chana daal khichri and lauki ka raita to go with it :). Dumela reminds me about a close cousin, a Multani daal-pulaav called Phunakni. Phunakni is usually made with chana daal or split peas (matar daal) and sometimes even with chana! jeera, tej patta and moti-elaichi are used for spicing (the way i've eaten it). Unlike the khichri above though, the rice grains are still separate and not mushy. So in a way we Punjus have a cousin of this khichri :). Thanks Dumela.....it reminded me of some nice old times.....


For Khichri, we need:

• 3/4 cup rice ( i used basmati, but other Sona masoori goes well too)
• 1/2 cup chana daal (washed and preferably soaked for 1 hr.)
• 1/2 tsp. Jeera
• 4-5 laungs (lavangs, cloves)
• 1 tsp. melted ghee
• Salt to taste
  
• 2 and 1/4 cups water

Wash the rice and add the soaked chana daal to it and set aside. In melted ghee, splutter the jeera. Add the daal chawal mix, cover with water, add the salt and cloves. Pressure cook for two whistles. Let the cooker cool down and its ready :). That simple. It should turn out like pulaav .

But wait, khichri needs her companions! In Punjabi we say, "Khichri de ne chaar yaar, ghyo, dahi, papad te achaar", describing khichri's four companions: Ghyo (ghee), dahi, papad and pickle. So, here goes. Lets make some ghiye da raita (lauki/doodhi, bottle gourd raita). This is one of my favorite ways to relish ghiya, and the humble raita is lifted to great heights with the use of black pepper and green chillies.



For ghiye da raita, we need:

• One small bottle gourd
• salt
• 1/2 tsp. cumin powder, coriander powder and ground black pepper
• 1-2 chopped green chillies
• Chopped cilantro
• 1 and 1/2 cup beaten yogurt.
  

Grate the bottle gourd (you can include the peel too). Next step is to steam the grated ghiya. You can steam it in the pressure cooker or turn to your microwave. So, place the grated ghiya in a microwavable vessel, sprinkle some water (1 tbsp. or so), cover and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes. Cool it down. Mix the beaten yogurt in. Stir in the spice powders, salt and chopped green chillies. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with rice or your choice. If you don't like very spicy food, don't chop the chillies. Just slit them into two, remove seeds and mix with the raita to let the flavor (but not heat) of the chillies blend in.



I served the khichri with raita, mirchi achaar and papad. Enjoy :).

Next:

• M for Mooli-wadi sabzi
• Pretty, healthy and delicious: A Raita
  
• Aloo-gobhi
• Arbi-bataun (baingan) di sabzi
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