Khicheri – Indian rice and mung dal

Rainbow food series – yellow

This recipe was inspired by Anjum Anand’s creamy lentil and rice recipe. An amazing all in one dish, and as mentioned by Anjum, can be eaten as breakfast, lunch and dinner if in need of a detox. I thought it was very appropriate for Lent.

This was an all new challenge for me. I have never been much of a bean, let alone lentil person, but I found myself a good reason to try. I found whilst following Anjum, my method was a little different from her instructions, perhaps the lentils I bought were slightly different or pre soaked, not sure.

The measurements were not kitchen friendly, I do not have a scale, so this is how I went about it.

Recipe

1/2 cup of white basmati rice, washed
1/2 cup Natco mung beans (these seemed simpler to cook than Anj’s instructions, no peeling, no husks)
2 tsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, chopped
1 dried red chilli, whole
1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
salt, to taste
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
800ml of water to start with, may add more
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Soak the rice and lentils in a large pan of water for 30 minutes. The soaking is more for the rice, I skipped this step but ended up adding more water and cooked slightly longer.

2. In a large non-stick saucepan melt the ghee. Add the cumin and fry for 20 seconds, until the seeds have coloured and their aroma has been released. Stir in the onion and cook until softened.

3. When the onion has cooked, add the chilli, ginger, garlic and salt and cook for a minute before adding the drained rice, lentils, turmeric and water. Bring to the boil briefly before lowering the heat and simmering gently until the rice and lentils are tender. This should take approximately 20 minutes.

Once tender, stir in the garam masala and freshly ground black pepper and serve.

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