Plain Khichuri \ Khichdi

Khichuri is commonly considered to be a comfort food. In Bengali tradition, it is customary to cook khichuri on rainy days :) . It is also traditional in Bengal to cook khichuri for lunch at the Saraswati Puja during the month of February—the invocation of the goddess of learning—and for other popular pujas such as Durga Puja.

While khichuri is cooked as a rather rich gourmet delicacy in Bengal, it is cooked very differently in northern and western India, where it is considered a very plain bland dish usually served to people who are ill. Khichdi is also the first solid that babies are introduced to.

After staying in Bangalore, I have come to know one more thing; the Bisi Bele Bath or "Hot Lentil Rice" is famous variant of Kichdi from Karnataka, a state in Southern India.

These days, the weather is pleasant & very perfect to have khichuri or khichdi in meals. So last night we had this simple & plain food in dinner. We had this after a long long time, so enjoyed this plain version with a spicy fish item. 

Hope you will love it & send me some comment too :)

Ingredients:

Rice - 100gm \ 1 cup, uncooked

Musur daal\Red Lentils- 100gm

Onion - 1 large, coarsely chopped

chilly - 1

Bay leaf - 2

oil to fry

salt to taste

sugar

Panchforon (cumin, nigella\kalo jeera, fenugreek\methi, wild celary\randhuni & fennel\mouri seeds)

Turmeric powder

water (do not worry about quantity)

Method:

1. Soak rice & daal

2. Heat oil in a cooker. Add bay leaves, panchforon. When panchforon starts to splatter, add onions. Saute for 5min

3. Add rice & daal. Add salt, sugar, chilly flakes & turmeric powder. Saute for 5 more mins.

4. Add 4cups of water. Cover and cook on high flame & wait for the cooker to whistle 4-5 times. Turn off the heat & let it set for 10-15 mins.

5. Transfer to a serving dish. Serve hot.

We had our khichuri with the spicy fish bhurji.