Dal Khichdi

Dal khichdi is a popular comfort food which is healthy and easy to make too.It is a combination of rice and dal cooked with flavourful spices.I googled and found many recipes some using moong dal,some toor dhal and some combination of dals and here is my version of Dal khichdi using Moong dal. 

Ingredients:

Rice(I have used ponni raw rice here)	½ cup
Yellow moong dal(Pasiparuppu)	¼ cup
Toor dal	1 tblsp
Tomato finely chopped	1 small
Onion  finely chopped	1 small
Carrot cut into small cubes	2 tblsp
Spinach finely chopped	¼ cup
Green chilli	1
Ginger	Small piece
Cumin seeds	1 tsp
Cinnamon	Small piece
Cardamom	1
Clove	1
Ghee	2 tsp
Oil	1 tsp
Turmeric powder	a pinch
Salt	as needed
Coriander leaves finely chopped	to garnish

Method:

• Rinse rice and dal well and soak them together in enough water for 15-20 mins.
• Finely chop the green chilli and ginger.
• Chop all the vegetables finely and keep aside.
• Heat ghee and oil in a pan,add the spices and cumin seeds and wait till they start browning and nice aroma comes.Add the green chilli,ginger and fry well followed by onion and fry till onion turns slight brown.
• Drain the water from the soaked rice+dal and add the rice and dal mixture to the pan and fry well for 2 mins.
• Now add the chopped carrots,spinach and tomatoes and just stir once.
• Add the required salt,pinch of turmeric powder and around 2 1/4 cups of water.
• Transfer this to another vessel and pressure cook for 4-5 whistles in medium flame.
• Once the pressure releases,gently open and mix the khichdi well.If needed add little water to get the right consistency.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with little ghee on top.I served it with Curd and Papad.

Note:

• You can make this directly in a pressure cooker too.In that case the frying part and cooking part can be done in the same.
• Carrot and spinach are optional.You can do without vegetables too.
• Don't skip ghee.It adds nice flavour and taste to the khichdi.