Kadhi and Kichadi(or Kichari)

It is a Cold Snowy Day in Vancouver.  It has been snowing for 3 days now, so I decided to make Kadhi and  Lassi Kichadi (or grey kichadi) for dinner.

Snow Feb 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kadhi is a yoghurt based gravy dish to which chickpea flour/besan is added, tempered and then simmered with spices.  Kadhi is a popular North Indian dish, made with chickpea flour and yogurt as main ingredients along with various spices.  In India each state and region has their own version of kadhi.  Panjabi Kadhi is thick with  pakoras added to it.  Gujarati kadhi is thin and sweet as jaggery or sugar is added to it.

Kichadi is a simple dish that has the consistency of porridge. kichadi is from Indian subcontinent made from rice and Mung Daal(lentils).  In Indian culture, it is considered one of the first solid foods that babies eat.  It is also eaten by those recovering from indigestion problem.  It is also a comfort food to be eaten on a cold winter day.  It can be  a simple dish served with ghee or butter or it can be spiced up with vegetables in it.  It is served with masala potato and kadhi.  This kichadi is cooked on slow heat till it is very soft.  Back home khichdi is cooked in a clay pot on a sagari(sagari is a cooking stove and uses coal). We also had our main meal at lunch time and then have a simple meal for dinner.  Kadhi Kichari is one of the simple meal.  A lot of our seniors have dudh kichadi(milk and kichadi0 or dahi kichadi (yoghurt and kichadi) for dinner. Add papadum and mango pickle to the meal.  The following day we added the the oil from the mango pickle and had the kichadi, tastes pretty good.

Kadhi

Kichadi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kadhi

Ingredients

  • 1           lt yoghurt (6%MF)
  • 3           cups water
  • 1           level tbsp chickpea flour
  • 1           tbsp green masala
  • 1/4        tsp  haldi(turmeric powder)
  • 1           tsp dhana jeera(coriander and cumin powder)
  • 1           tsp salt(to taste)
  • 1           tbsp sugar/jaggery
  • 1           jalapeño(optional)
  •              coriander leaves for garnishing

Tempering

  • 2           tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1           spring curry leaves
  • 1           broken red chilli(optional)
  • 2           clove garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1/2        tsp jeera(cumin seeds)
  • 1/2        tsp rai(mustard seeds)
  • 1/2        tsp methi(fenugreek seeds)

Instructions

  • In a Medium bowl add the yoghurt, water, chickpea flour, green masala,haldi, chana jeera, and salt and mix well.  Make sure there are no lumps in the mixture.
  • Heat a large sauce pan on high heat.  Add the oil, when the oil is hot add the rest of the tempering ingredients.  When the seeds start to pop, add the yoghurt mix and mix well.
  • Keep stirring till the curry thins out, about 5 minutes.  The kadhi will boil over if you do not stir it.
  • Lower the heat to medium and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring a few times.
  • Add the sugar/jaggery,  jalepeno cut in half and coriander leaves.
  • Serve hot with Lassi kichari, chuti kichari or vegetable pilau.
  • You can serve kadhi in a small tea cup for people to drink it. 

Kichadi

Ingredients

  • 1/2       cup Split Mung Daal
  • 1/2       cup long grain rice
  • 4          cups water
  • 1/2       tsp salt
  • 2          oz butter or ghee.

Instructions

  1. Rinse  mung daal and rice with cold water a few times.
  2. Add mung daal and rice to a pot with 4 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt.
  3. Bring to a boil on high heat stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the butter/ghee.  Reduce heat to medium low(mark 4) and simmer until all the water is absorbed.
  5. Turn the heat off.  Mash the kichadi and serve with yoghurt, kadhi or other vegetable curry.

Note:

If you soak mung daal and rice for 1/2 hr or more, the kichadi will cook faster.

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