Simple Khichari

Niyati Patel

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup (100gr or a bit more) of any split lentil (red, yellow mung, urad)

• 1/4 cup (65gr) brown long grain rice

• 1/4 cup (~45gr) red or white quinoa

• 2 tbsp (30mL) ghee or virgin coconut oil

• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

• 6 curry leaves, fresh or dried (can be omitted if you don't have them)

• 1, 1in (3cm) piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

• 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets

• 1 tsp (shy of 2 gr) fennel seeds, ground

• 4 cups (a little more than 900mL) water

• Black pepper

• Cilantro leaves for serving

PROCESS

1. Soak lentils and grains together for 30 minutes, drain, and rinse when ready to use.

2. While grains and lentils soak, prep ginger, cauliflower, and grind fennel seeds.

3. Heat your coconut oil or ghee in a large saucepan over medium heat.  When hot, put in turmeric and cook for 10-15 seconds until slightly darker.

4. Add curry leaves and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

5. Throw in lentils and grains and cook for up to 2 minutes until they look dry.  If lentils start to stick to the bottom, go to next step.

6. Add cauliflower, fennel seeds, and water.  Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.  If there's any froth at the top, do your best to skim this off.

7. Decrease heat and bring everything to a simmer and cover.  Cook for anywhere between 25-40 minutes until everything is super soft.  Depending on the lentils and how fresh they are, they could cook down fairly quickly.  At 20 minutes, check and make sure that the mixture isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot.

8. Take off heat.  At this point, I like to take my potato masher and run it through a few times to break things up even more and make the khichari a bit more thick.  

9. Give mixture a couple cracks of black pepper and serve in bowls with cilantro on top.

Enjoy!