Masala vegetable khichdi/ Mung dal Masala Khichdi

Khichdi is made generally with Mung dal or Split and dehusked green gram but it's also made in many other ways with different ingredients. It's made plain with just adding seasoning to cooked mung dal and rice or by spicing it up with different spices.  Khichdi is very popular in Indian cuisine since it's easily digestible. The plain variety is mostly served when someone is down with health issues. A bowl of masala khichdi tastes especially good on a chilly winter day, may it be for breakfast/ dinner/ lunch. So let's see what all needs to be done for this recipe.

Ingredients :

• Rice - 1/2 cup
• Mung dal/ Split and dehusked green gram - 1/2 cup
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Bay leaf - 1
• Onion - 1, medium, chopped finely
• Mixed Vegetables (French beans, Carrots, Peas, Potatoes) - 1 cup (optional)
• Water - 2 cups
• Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp 
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
  

To grind :

                 Peppercorns - 3/4 tsp
                 Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
                 Ginger - 1 inch piece
                 Garlic cloves - 2
                 Cinnamon stick - 1 small
                 Cloves - 1 or 2
                 Coconut - 1/4 cup ( optional)
                 Coriander leaves - 3 to 4 sprigs


Preparing Masala Khichdi :

• Wash and soak the rice for half an hour. 
• Dry roast the Mung dal in low flame for 2 minutes.
  
• Grind the ingredients mentioned under 'To grind' into a fine paste, by adding little water.
• In a pressure cooker or a cooking pot, heat the oil. Add Bay leaf and fry for a few seconds. 
• Add in the chopped onions and fry till translucent followed by the vegetables. Add salt and turmeric powder which cooks the veggies faster. Fry for 2 minutes, stirring now and then.
  
• Add the ground paste and fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
  
  
  
  
• Pour the 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil. In the meantime, drain the water from soaked rice and keep ready.
• Once the water starts to boil, adjust the salt and add the soaked rice, ghee and lemon juice. Give it a mix and close the pot/ pressure cooker. Hear 2 whistles and switch off the pressure cooker. If cooking in a pot, cook the initial 5 minutes in high flame, then simmer to lowest and cook until rice is done. This takes around 15 minutes to cook in a pot.
  
• Masala Vegetable khichdi is ready to be served with any raitha/ plain yogurt/ any curry of your choice.
  

Note : Khichdi is always little mushy and it doesn't get cooked like each grain separate, as we do in Pulav of any kind. This is because the mung dal gets cooked very fast and also because of the addition of coconut paste.
Please do try this recipe and let me know how it turned out for you. Follow me on Google+ to get regular updates about new posts.. Thank you!