Khichadi (Pongal)

Khichadi (Pongal) is a healthy one-dish meal made with rice and moong dal. It’s known as Khara Pongal in South India. Khichadi is easy to make and makes a great vegetarian brunch as well. Serve it with a spoonful of ghee, lemon or any other pickle, rasam, and papads, and you have simple yet delicious vegetarian food.

Khichadi tastes best when slightly overcooked and is almost like porridge. This is an easy pressure cooker recipe. You can make this in the rice cooker as well.

Servings: 4
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 3/4 cup moong dal (split mung beans)
• Salt to taste
• 4 1/4 cups water

For Seasoning

• 6-7 tsp vegetable oil
• Asafoetida powder (hing), a pinch
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
• 1 tsp pepper corns, whole or crushed
• 1 green chilli, slit and halved
• 1 red chilli, broken into a couple of pieces
• 6-7 curry leaves
• 2 tbsp, cilantro (coriander leaves), finely chopped
• 6-8 cashews

Preparation

1. Wash the moong dal a couple of times. Add it to the rice in a large steel cooker container. Add 4 1/4 cups of water and salt to taste.
2. Heat oil in a small pan, and fry the cashew nuts until golden brown, and remove and set aside.
3. Add hing, cumin, mustard seeds, and pepper corns. As the seeds start to pop, add the green and red chillies, and curry leaves, and fry for a minute. Pour this seasoning over the rice and moong dal.
4. Add the cilantro leaves. Mix well, and taste the water to make sure the salt is to your taste.
5. Cook the rice and dal in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles, or about 8-10 minutes.
6. Mix the khichadi and garnish with cashews.
7. Serve the khichadi (pongal) with a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) and mango pickle, lime pickle, or chilli pickle.

Category: Rice Recipes, Rice Recipes - No-Onion No-Garlic, Vegan Rice Recipes