Comforting Kichadi

Dear Foodies,


I am back again, and this time I am armed with a brand new camera. Yayyy ! I am still learning and trying to find my way through the innumerable settings and buttons on the camera, so pardon the photography that I am going to force upon you guys for the next few weeks. Any tips and comments on composition, lighting, angles and everything else are more than welcome, infact I might make that compulsory ;)

The mention of the red chilli pickle in my previous post reminded me of kichadi and instantly I started craving for some warm kichadi. It was also going to be the best companion for kadhi which has sprung up on quite a few blogs this past two weeks. This time I made my usual kichadi without dressing it up like last time.


Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup - Rice, I used Basmati
• 3/4 cup - dal, I used 1/4th toor and 1/2 moong dal
• 1 tsp - Shah jeera or Jeera/Cumin seeds
• 2 nos - Garlic cloves, sliced or smashed
• 1/2 cup - Onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1/2" round of ginger
• 4 nos - Laung/Clove
• 1 nos - Bay leaf
  
• 1 nos - Badi elaichi (or normal elaichi/cardamom)
  
• 1" - Cinnamon stick
• 2 nos - Green chillies, split thru the center
  
• 1 tsp - turmeric
• 2 tsp - Oil
• Salt to taste
• 2 1/2 cups - Water
  

Method:

1. Soak the rice in water for about 20 mins. Heat oil in a pan (or pressure cooker) and add the jeera. Next add all the whole spices and heat them through for about a minute.
2. The garlic and ginger go in next, after the garlic cooks a little (~1/2 -1 min) toss in the onions, green chillies and turmeric . I add a little salt to the onions so they release their moisture and soften faster.
3. After the onions are cooked and turn translucent add the moong dal and saute for 2 mins on medium heat until they start turning a little golden and then add the rest of the dal and rice. You could also skip the 2 step process and add all the rice and dal together.
4. Saute the mixture for 2mins until the moisture evaporates and the rice gets nicely coated with the oil. Transfer it to a rice cooker or microwave safe bowl and cook according to your tried and tested rice:water ratio and salt. I cooked it in the microwave for 14 mins, stirred it once and cooked for another 2 mins.

There seems to be nothing elaborate or rich about this dish but it sure is on the top of my 'comforting recipes' list. Its also because of the memories I've attached to Kichadi. My brother and I would play 'tent' in our home once in a while. We would pull together shelves and some how manage to drape bedsheets over them to form a tent right inside the house :D And then we had this nifty little torch light that had a fan on on side and the light on the opposite. We would fix that to the center of the tent and 'camp out' in our tent. We would also pile up pillows and bedding, books etc and make it a cozy corner. My mom would acknowledge this with kichadi and bring it to our tents :)) It sounds so funny and silly but those were golden days :)

For the Kadhi I followed Manisha's recipe but skipped the cloves in it. Thank you Manisha :)

Have a great weekend!