Simple khichdi

Originally uploaded by lools.

Khichdi is a delicious Indian one-pot dish made from rice and daal. It literally means to mash everything up. You can get real fancy by adding vegetables and all sorts of spices but I like my khichdi at its bare minimum, especially when I'm home sick nursing a chest infection. And take-out from a Manhattan restaurant is not appealing at all.

I haven't been motivated to cook these past few days but my mom reminded me this morning while I was chatting with her that it is amazingly simple to make khichdi. I had forgotten about how she used to feed me this dish when I was sick so often as a child. I quickly dug out my pressure cooker and got to work before my energy drained.

Take 1 cup rice, 3/4 cup moong dal, 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt. Add to pressure cooker along with 2+ cups of water. After three whistles, remove from heat. Mash up the cooked rice and moong dal adding a bit of warm water if you need to. Heat some ghee or butter in a small pan, add jeera (cumin seeds) till it gets brown and you can smell its lovely aroma. Pour on top of the khichdi. Serve hot.

One bite and I could already feel my energy coming back...