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:

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• Aloo-gobhi
• Arbi-bataun (baingan) di sabzi
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