Food

Moong Dal Khichdi

Comfort · Indian · Rice · Vegetarian

Moong Dal Khichdi
Prep 10 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 2
Level Easy

Rice and split yellow lentils cooked soft together with ginger, cumin, tomato and vegetables and finished with ghee — the same equal parts of rice and dal that the sixteenth-century Ain-i-Akbari records.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Rice section’s regional pages and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

  • 1 to 2 tablespoons ghee or oil
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 bay leaf (or 1 sprig curry leaves, optional)
  • ¾ to 1 teaspoon ginger, grated or paste (1-inch piece)
  • ¼ cup onion, finely chopped (1 very small, optional)
  • 1 green chili, slit (or ½ teaspoon red chili powder)
  • ½ cup tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped or puréed (1 medium)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ⅓ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
  • ½ cup rice (any kind)
  • ½ cup moong dal (skinless split yellow lentils)
  • 4 cups water, plus more to adjust
  • 1 pinch asafoetida (optional)
  • ½ tablespoon ghee, for topping
  • 1 medium carrot, 8 French beans and 1 small potato, cut small (optional)

Directions

Key ingredients

Turmeric

  1. Rinse the rice and dal together three times. Soak 30–40 minutes if not using a pressure cooker.
  2. Temper. In hot ghee, sizzle the bay leaf and cumin, then the ginger and asafoetida, then the onion and chili until golden.
  3. Build. Add the tomato, vegetables, salt and turmeric and cook 3–4 minutes, then the drained rice and dal for 3–4 minutes more.
  4. Cook. Add 4 cups water for a porridge, or 3 cups for a “mushy” khichdi. Pressure-cook to 2 whistles (mushy) or 4–5 (porridge), or simmer in a pot, adding boiling water as needed, until the dal is soft.
  5. Serve topped with ghee, with papad and pickle.

Notes

Source Adapted from Swasthi Shreekanth, “Dal Khichdi,” Swasthi’s Recipes.

History The Ain-i-Akbari (1590s) gives khichri as rice, split dal and ghee, five ser of each — a one-to-one ratio of rice to dal, as here. (Its note that the recipe “gives seven dishes” means servings, not seven variations.)

The Rice section’s South Asia page (/rice/south-asia/) covers the history and technique behind this dish.