![Madhur Jaffrey’s Pressure Cooker Dal (Dal Makkhani)](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/09/25/dining/kc-buttery-dal/merlin_161002911_021cc13f-b34d-4748-a06a-4026265dea68-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Khichdi
![Khichdi](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/02/21/dining/00RICEGUIDE11/00RICEGUIDE11-articleLarge-v2.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ⅔cup long-grain white rice, such as jasmine
- ⅓cup yellow split moong beans
- 2tablespoons ghee
- ½teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1small cinnamon stick
- 2green cardamom pods
- 2whole cloves
- 1sprig curry leaves (optional)
- ¼teaspoon red chile powder
- ¼teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the rice and moong and rinse several times, until the water that drains away runs almost totally clear. Add to a heavy-bottomed pot with 1¾ cups water and set over medium-high heat.
- Step 2
In another small saucepan, heat the ghee and mustard seeds. When the seeds start to pop, lower the heat and add the remaining ingredients, swirling them in the pan. Let the spices sizzle for under a minute, then carefully pour into the rice pot, along with the ghee. (Watch out: The fat may splatter).
- Step 3
When the water comes up to a rolling boil, give it a good stir, scraping at the bottom of the pot, then cover tightly and turn the heat down to low. Cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the rice rest for 10 minutes before opening the lid. Fluff gently with a spatula. Taste, season with salt to taste and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Yellow mung dal and yellow split peas are NOT the same thing. Yellow split peas will require much longer cooking times than the mung dal. Yellow split peas are found everywhere; mung dal not so much but Amazon is my go to place for it. Also known as kitchari, it's the go to meal...the soupier the better...for ailments of any kind but especially tummy/digestive system. Kitchari is the Ayurvedic version of chicken soup by the way!
Grew up eating this - sort my family's gujarati version of chicken soup - we make it in a pressure cooker to give a very porridge like quality. We always use black mustard seeds and lately - been adding some fresh grated ginger root. Put on full heat - when the pressure valve releases once - turn down to medium heat and then let the pressure set off twice more. Then I turn it off and let the pressure release naturally. In instantpot set for 7 minutes on manual. natural release -perfect.
Moong beans are not in fact lentils; they are from a different genus. However, in Indian cooking, dried and split beans, peas, and lentils are all referred to as “dal,” and are used in similar ways. Sometimes the English word “lentil(s)” is used as a catch-all synonym for dal of all sorts, probably because the more correct word, pulse, is not widely known.
The khichadi I grew up eating had none of those spices. My mother would have had a fit! Cardamom!! Just rice, moong dal, salt, turmeric and water. And ghee on top. Done. You could add asafoetida/ hing to the water. But that’s it. Comfort food at it best. And almost vegan.
In all seriousness, I wouldn't recommend adding spices and ghee to a rice cooker mid-cooking process.
Or not. For yellow khichdi just add turmeric, hing, cumin seeds, salt to the pot and let cook.
Technically this is what one does for a pullau - sautee in the spice mixture before cooking. The oil keeps the grains separate and one may want more of a risotto consistency and add spices after cooking or not at all. In kitchidi, traditionally the spice mix is optional and added after cooking. But of course one is free to improvise and invent as one wishes.
Seems easier and smarter to sauté rice and lentils in spice mixture, then add water. This is usually how I cook all aromatic rice dishes.
This was excellent. Very comforting. Altered the recipe a bit to accommodate what I had on hand. Used basmati rice rather than jasmine, used black mustard seeds (since it wasn't specified what type) and yellow split peas. After rinsing the peas I placed them in a large bowl with over 1 cup of water; cooked on high in microwave for 4 min. (didn't have time to soak them for long enough so they would cook fully with the rice). They ended up firm but cooked.
I have gotten out of the habit of white rice and learned to like brown rice better. Much more nutritious. Anyone know how to make this with brown rice?
Love this! I made some adjustments according to what was in my pantry and it worked out well. Brown basmati rice and brown lentils. Added more water and cooked twice as long for the brown rice. Lentils perfect. Love the spice mix; will definitely make this again.
Use a prepared curry powder mix instead of the individual spices. I like Sharwood's Mild Curry Powder.
Yellow split moong beans are a type of lentil. Lentil is a type of legume that according to Wikipedia, is "known for its lens-shaped seeds." So yeah, split peas are a lentil to and are a perfectly good substitute.
So, basically, I can just put rice, mung dal and tarka in a rice cooker.
Simple, fast, tasty, and easy to make - will definitely cook it again!
Sometimes the lentils make khichdi mushy. I like the way moong beans hold their shape in this version. The spices are great.
2/3 c. raw rice for 4 people? In an alternate universe, or if you are serving this with several other dishes. But otherwise a solid base recipe.
I would make again, but 2 tbs of ghee was way too much.
Like others, I amped up the spices added to the ghee, added some minced fresh ginger, cardamom, and more cloves. This is a lovely, quick dish that eagerly awaits to be made on a cool, damp day. i plan on adding whatever root veggies I have on hand the next time to I make this.
So read through some of the notes and I'm still somewhat confused. Is the bag of TJ's red split lentils that I have in my pantry the same as split mung dal? If not is it a suitable substitute?
Got a lime pickle recipe?
Really great recipe. It's fast, the texture and taste were much better than expected, and i was expecting them to be pretty good. I doubled the recipe, the leftovers are great warmed up. Also, about 1/4tsp asafoetida added with the other spices to the warm ghee.
Added pinch of cardamom and cloves, rather than whole pods
Add white raisins
I loved this. I've tried another recipe with different spicing and like both. I used arborio rice and it worked well. I like it very moist, so I added a cup (or more) of vegetable broth at the end. Topped it with Madhur Jaffrey's Gujerati-style green beans to which I added some red bell pepper.
Great quick dinner that will be on rotation. My only complaint is that it only makes 2 servings as an entrée.
A friend made this for me a while back and it was so delicious. Was looking for a recipe to recreate it. In my recent pantry re-org I discovered 1/2 c yellow split peas—pressure cooked these for 20 min, then added basmati rice and 1/2 tsp salt for 8 min, topped with the spiced ghee at the end and some more salt to taste. Was soft and my picky eater loved it. Will use this method again, but will use the dal called for.
Could urad dal work instead of the moong dal?
what a bizarre recipe for khichri. this looks like pulao. you never 'fluff' a khichri. to cook a cup of long grained rice to a 'fluff' consistency in a pressure cooker you generally need atleast 2 cups of water- in the case of Basmati 2.5 cups. it is such basic science in cooking. khichri is always loose, soft and often mushy. and from Kerala to Srinagar i have never seen this combination of spices for khichri.
Split mung beans
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