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 

Mango Pickle - Gujarati khaatu Methiyu/Methia Athanu!!!

This is the pickle that i have grown up on!!! This goes perfectly well with my comfort foods of khichdi or daal chawal!! It is called Methiyu Athanu!! It just jazzes up any dull food and i love it for that :)

We used to get 2 vacations every year - summer and Diwali. And every vacation i would go to my grandmom's place and would return just a day before of school starting!! And at my grandmom's place i was pampered silly!! My grandfather would take me to Zoo, gardens, museums, arts class and loads of other places!! He would hire a cycle for me for a day, everyday!! My grandmom used make all my favorite foods!! So most of the days there would be Bhindi, Kadhi, Keri no Ras and dhokla!! My mamas used to give me ride on their back and used buy toys and crackers for me!!! And in case my maasi (who we call Naani -coz she is younger of the sister and Naani means small in Gujarati) then i would get extra special treatment!! I told you, i was pampered silly ;)

From summer vacations, I remember the freshly made mangoe pickles and chundo/murabbo!! My grandmom and the neighbouring aunties (maami as i used to call them) used to get together to make pickle for every family!! So under my grandmom's carefully eye, there used be the Project Pickle in the society every summer :) I also remember torturing everybody withh my poor jokes and crazy riddles during those pickle making sessions!! What i don't remember is how my grandmom used to make the pickle :(

Finally when mom visited me last week, i decided to get the recipe of THE pickle...I made it in small quantity as it was the 1st time. You can increase the amount of ingredients if you wish!!! But before that have a look at it :)

The Zingy Mango Pickle!!!

Ingredients:

1 Raw mango
1/2 cup methi dana (Fenugreek seeds)
1+ 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli powder (you can increase/decrease if you want to - i find this optimum)
3 + 1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Oil
1 pinch Hing (asofoetida)
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder

Method:

1) Grind the methi daana very coarsly in the mixer. Ensure that there are no whole seeds. Every seed should be broken.This broken methi daana is known as Methi na kuriya.
2) Now add salt, red chili poweder, hing and turmeric to the methi daana. Mix well.
3) Heat the oil in a kadai. Add the oil to the methi daana mixture. Mix well.
4) Let it cool down. Meanwhile proper wash, clean and pat dry the mango and cut it into small pieces (throw away the seed/ Gotlo/ Gutli).

Mango - About to get pickled!!

5) Now, mix the mango pieces with the prepared methi masala. Mix well.

Mango and masala mixed - all set to get pickled...

6) Keep this mixture in a glass bowl and cover. Mix it properly everyday for 3 days.
7) And on 4th day, your pickle is ready!!
8) If you want to store it for the year (which unlikely with this small amount, but still) then heat more oil and add it to the pickle. Mix well and store in a glass jar. If planning to finish off within few days, then don't add extra oil.

You can enjoy this pickle with Muthiya, Khakhara, Rice, Khichdi, dhokla, bhakhari or anything that comes to your mind!! I even add a little masala of this pickle to My Daal!!

Notes:
1) This is a bit modified recipe. Original recipe says use 5 kg mango, 500 gms methi, 1 kg salt. But that was too much for me...So i reduced the salt amount. You can go ahead and make it as per this.

Hey Priya, if it's ok, then can you used the mango wala pic for the Colour me green event?! If not then you can continue with the Karela pic :)
Linking this to Foodelicious Cook Like Mom Event...

WTML–Walk Through Memory Lane & Gayathri's Announcement page



+techie ZM