Khichdi Kadhi

This is my comfort food!! Quick to make, great in taste and very healthy!! When you are in hurry but want to eat something yummy, filling and comforting. Make khichdi kadhi and enjoy!!

Every region in India has different variants of the humble khichdi!! Came to know about it after I got married and MIL whipped up a different looking khichdi.

The one that I am sharing is Gujarati khichdi. You may find different variants of khichdi in different Gujarati homes too. Some people use chilke wali moong daal, some use yellow moong daal and some even use toor daal!! Tempering and spices used in khichdis also vary. Some do tadka using tel and some use ghee. Some of them add jeera and some other add methi. Some also add cloves and black pepper. Sometimes vegetable too are added to make it more healthy and complete!!

Wow!! One humble dish and so many variants!!

Same thing can be said about kadhi. Punjabi kadhi is different than Gujarati kadhi. And as I have seen different Gujarati homes make different kadhi.

At my home, kadhi is incomplete without green chili, ginger and garlic paste and a generous ghee ka tadka!! And we don't add sugar to our kadhi that many Gujarati families add. Though I like the one with sugar too, but I have a soft spot for the simple version of kadhi that my mom (and my grandmom and her mom and her grandmom) has been making :)

Khichdi Kadhi

Ingredients for khichdi:

1 Cup Rice

1/2 cup yellow moong daal (split green gram)

2 cups of water (may vary according to your rice and daal)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon methi daana (Fenugreek seeds)

salt to taste

2 teaspoon ghee or oil for tadka

1 generous pinch of mustard seeds (rai/sarson)

a pinch of hing (Asafoetida)

Ingredients for kadhi:

2 cups thick curd

1 tablespoon besan

salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (optional)

1 green chili, 1/2 cm long ginger peeled, 4 garlic cloves peeled - grounded to get a coarse paste (you can use readymade paste too)

2 teaspoon Ghee for tadka (You must use ghee, makes a lot of difference)

1 generous pinch of mustard seeds

a pinch of hing (Asofoetida)

1 twig kadi patta (mitho limdo)

a pinch of jeera

Method for making Khichdi:

1) Mix daal and rice. Wash and soak for 20 minutes. (If you are in hurry you can skip soaking).

2) Add salt, turmeric powder and methi daana to it.

3) Now in a kadai take ghee or oil for tadka. Add mustard seeds to it. Once they crackle, add hing to it.

4) Mix the tadka with the soaked dal rice. and pressure cook for 3 whistles (or whatever time it takes in your cooker to get the rice cooked).

That's it folks!! Khichdi is ready!!

Method for making Kadhi:

1) In a pan take curd and beat it. Add besan to it and beat . Add water to adjust it to a little thicker than sambar consistency. (We like it thick, you can dilute it if you prefer).

2) Add salt, turmeric and green chili ginger garlic paste. mix well.

3) Cook it on medium flame till the kadhi boils. Takes around 7-10 minutes.

Keep stirring continuously. If you stop stirring then the solid and liquid separates. This is called "Kadhi footi gayi" (Kadhi got broken)!! And footeli kadhi is not the done thing.

3) Now for tadka (tempering) take ghee in a small kadai. Plz take ghee, it's really important.

4) Add mustard seeds to it, once they crackle add jeera then hing and in the end kadi patta.

5) Mix it with kadhi and boil for one more time. Should take around 5 minutes. Don't forget to stir continuously.

And kadhi is ready!! Garnish with dhania patta if you have it around.

Khichdi Kadhi

Serve khichdi with kadhi and a spoonfull of ghee. Papad and pickles too tastes great with it. At my home we have Khichdi kahdi with jeera meetha ni bhakhari, papad, methiyu athanu and kanda bataka nu shaak. 

Sending this to Dish it out - Light Dinner event hosted by Preetha and conceptualized by Vardhini..

This post is part of blogathon 2014

+techie ZM