Kichdi or Kichree is inspiration for the famous British dish 'Kedgree'. This is a very basic recipe with two main ingredients being rice and lentils. It is a popular comfort food cooked al over India but has it's variations as different regions have their local influences and versions of it. This is also a student favourite to cook because it's simple and takes less time with really few ingredients to use. This dish made it's way into Greek and Russian books dated 15th century AD and was very popular in the kitchens of Mughal Emperors. It's actually funny I say that because generally this is considered to be a poor man's diet. Though traditionally all the ingredients are cooked together in one pot, I used an Italian technique of cooking Risotto to make this version of Kichidi. It worked and made complete sense to me. You can use vegetables of any kind that you would like to eat in it , I only had tomatoes and potatoes at home and as it was raining and cold I did not bother going out shopping and this is such a perfect dish for a cold , rainy day. Let's have a look at the ingredients and method of cooking..jpg)
Toor daal or Yellow split lentils(you can use any sort of lentils you want)- 100gm
Bay leaves-2
Whole crushed garlic cloves-2
Sliced Ginger- 20 gms
Dried Red chilli -1
-Wash the lentils and place them in the pan with the rest of the ingredients and add lots of water.This water is what we will be using to cook our rice with.
While the lentils are cooking prepare the required vegetables. The list of veggies I used for this recipe-
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Onion- medium size- sliced- 1
Tomatoes- Medium size- sliced-2
Potatoes- cut into small cubes- med.size-2
Chopped ginger- 50 gm
Chopped garlic- 25 gm
Coriander leaves- 1 bunch
For Tempering-
Whole cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Whole mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Dry red chilli- 1
Black peppercorns- 5-6
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Turmeric Powder- a pinch
Sunflower oil- 2 tbsp
Rest of the ingredients-
Basmati Rice- 200 gm
Cripsy onions- 100 gm(These are just for garnish, if you don't find them in supermarkets, don't bother making them at home. Just use some toasted nuts for texture.)
Corinader powder-1 tsp
-Once the lentils are almost cooked, switch off the heat and add all the potatoes into the water that lentils are being cooked and leave them in there so that they start getting soft.
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-Heat oil in a deep pan and add all the ingredients for tempering.
- I quite like to bite into pepper corns so I leave them whole. If you are not comfortable with the idea then just crush them and add.
-Once, the tempering spices have been sautéed for a minute , add chopped ginger and garlic.
- Add the onions once the ginger and garlic are cooked for 2 minutes.
- Once the onions become transparent, add washed rice and stir for a couple of minutes.
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-Then add sliced tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes.Add Coriander powder.
-It's time to add the water in which lentils and potatoes have been cooked and do not add it all at once.
-Just add a ladle full of lentil water at a time and let the rice soak it and cook gently on low flame.
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-Once all the water is in add the salt, lentils and potatoes and cover with a lid and cook for about 5 mins.
-Take the lid off and check if the rice is cooked and once it is then let the reaming liquid evaporate but not all of it. Kichdi should be a little moist and a bit starchy.
-Add the coriander leaves and sprinkle some crisp fried onions or toasted cahsewnuts and serve it.
In the English adaptation of this dish, they use smoked Haddock and boiled egg as garnish. Give it a go. It's Delicious.
I personally do not enjoy this dish piping hot as you do not get to taste all the lovely flavours in it so I tend to wait for about 10 minutes after it's been cooked and then eat it.
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