Oats Khichdi (Oats-Lentil Porridge)

Blogging Marathon# 57: Week 4/ Day 1

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Cooking with Whole grains

Dish: Oats Khichdi

We are starting a new week of blogging marathon and my theme for theme this week is 'Kid's Delight -- Cooking with Whole grains' being hosted by lovely Kalyani @ the sizzling tastebuds. Kid's Delight event is a brainchild of Valli.

Coming up with kid approved whole grain dishes was not easy as I thought it would be. My kids are a little picky and I have blogged about most of the whole grain dishes that they eat. So coming up with new ones was a good exercise for the brain. I cook/ bake with brown rice, quinoa, wholewheat flour etc., and they eat most of what I serve.

Read more »

Gujarati Khichdi

Blogging Marathon# 49: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Weekend Brunch Recipes

Dish: Gujarati Khichdi

My theme for the first week of this month's marathon is 'Brunch Recipes'. Brunch should be hearty and filling, but not too filling that it is going to make you take an early afternoon nap. Also since we are skipping breakfast to eat brunch, it should be nutritious enough to keep you going and charged for at least 3~4 hours. 

With all those in mind, here's a one pot dish that is sure to keep you full and energized until the next meal. Being a south Indian, I grew up eating rice for just about all the meals. Breakfast could be anything like lemon rice, tamarind rice, curd rice or pongal and that used to keep us full till lunch. But nowadays eating rice for breakfast or even brunch has become quite a rarity in my household.

As I was thinking of Indian dishes to make for brunch, khichdi came to my mind right away. It has dal (lentils) for protein and rice for carbs, which in my mind is perfect dish for any time of day. I found this Gujarati Khichdi recipe in Sanjeev Kapoor's Vegetarian Rice, Biryani & pulao cookbook.

Read more »

A Vegetarian Indian Thali

Blogging Marathon# 40: Week 4/ Day 3
Theme: Bookmarked recipes from BM# 39
Dish: Indian Thali

So for the last day of the marathon, I created a thali with some of the recipes that I bookmarked from last month's mega marathon. Indian thali usually consists of a Bread, Rice dish, a dry curry, a gravy curry, chutney and something sweet to end the meal. 

Most of the dishes in this thali are from the North Eastern states of India. To be honest, I had no idea about the eating habits or the popular dishes from any of the North Eastern states. Thanks to the research that all of the marathoners have done last month, I know a lot more about these cuisines now. I also wanted to make this black rice pudding from Nagaland for dessert, but I made this thali for myself and I wasn't motivated enough to make a dessert and also I was tooooo full after eating this meal. buuurp!!

Read more »

Orissa -- Mitha Khechudi & Mitha Dali

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 21
State: Orissa
Dish: Mitha Khechudi & Mitha Dali (Sweet Khichdi with Sweet Dal)

Today we are going to Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, located in the east coast of India. Orissa shares a border with Andhra Pradesh, but I never had a chance to visit it. My dad went there for work years ago and brought back a souvenir from Konark Sun Temple. I've seen his pictures at Puri Jagannath temple and Bhubaneshwar. That's the most I knew about Orissa.
Cuisine: Odisha has culinary tradition spanning centuries. I was really surprised to read that rasgulla actually originated from Odisha, I always thought it was from Bengal. Also Kheer or rice pudding, that is relished all over India, also originated in Puri 2000 years ago.
Oriya cuisine is rich and varied and relies heavily on local ingredients. The flavors are usually subtle and lightly spiced, unlike the fiery curries typically associated with Indian cuisine. Only 6% of the population of Odisha is vegetarian. Oriyas are very fond of sweets and no Oriya meal is complete without the dessert course at the end.
Specialties: Dali, Dalma, Khechedi, Mittha Dali, Pakhala, Chena Poda, Dahi Bara, Kalakand etc.

Today's Dish(es): After reading about the Oriya cuisine, I initially planned on making a dessert. But after making quite a few desserts for the marathon, I decided against it. I wanted to make something simple, yet traditional and authentic to Orissa. So after a lot of searching, I found this Oriya blog, Turmeric Kitchen, by Jagruthi. She has a ton of traditional dishes and I picked two that were simple and easy to make.

Read more »

Vaal dal Khichdi

Blogging Marathon# 29: Week 3/ Day 2
Theme: Course Wise Meal from any State - Maharashtra/ Lunch Dishes
Dish: Vaal Dal Khichdi 

Day 2 of BM# 29 and I'm doing 'Maharashtrian cuisine-Lunch dishes' theme. Today's dish is also another one-pot meal, but this time its a legume and rice combination, Vaal Dal Khichdi. Nupur @ One hot Stove is one of my favorite bloggers and she happens to be a Maharashtrian. So I have perused her blog a lot for this week's theme :-)

When I saw her post for Vaal Khichdi, I went out and bought Vaal dal to make the dish. Vaal is slightly bitter, but the addition of tamarind and jaggery tames it a little bit in this dish. My 5 year old didn't dig the bitterness, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. So thanks to Nupur for introducing a new legume. Here's the picture of Vaal dal.

Read more »

Sabhudana Khichdi

Recipe Courtesy: My dearest cousin Pallavi

Continuing with the guest posts for Valli's Kid's Delight: 5 Ingredient event being here right here on my blog. Today I have my dear cousin Pallavi's Sabhudana Khichdi. Pallavi lives in Delaware and has 2 beautiful daughters. She is a great cook and makes amazing Andhra dishes. She is a busy working mom, so big thanks to her for taking time and sending 2 delicious dishes for the Kid's delight event. She even took awesome step-by-step pictures.

I'm going to turn it over to Pallavi now:

I have been waiting all these days for my elder kid to ask me make a specific dish of her choice. Before hitting the bed her wish was for Sabudana kichidi for next day’s lunch pack. Immediately Pavani’s (Proud to say my cousin) Kids Delight Even flashed in my mind. Sabudana Kichidi is not much famous in Andhra (my native place). I had it the very first time and often during my stay in Mumbai. Probably I like it as much as my kid does. Later I learnt it from my Mother-in-law, a magical chef. People often say she cooks with lot of passion and love. I learnt basics in cooking only after marriage that too inspired from my Mother-in-law’s cooking. 

Read more »

Brown Rice – Puy Lentil Khichdi

This is my twist on classic moong dal khichdi and it was really really good. Puy lentils or French lentils are nutty and flavorful. They don’t have to be soaked before hand and their cooking time is same as brown rice.

You can definitely make this in the pressure cooker, but I prefer the closed pot cooking method.

Ingredients:
Brown Rice – 1 cup
Puy Lentils/ French lentils – ½ cup
Ginger – 1” piece, minced fine
Onion – 1 small, chopped
Green chilies – 3
Red Chilies – 2
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:

• Heat 2 tsp oil in a heavy bottom pan, add cumin seeds, red chilies, ginger and sauté for few second.
  
• Add onions and chilies; sauté for couple of minutes.
  
• Add rice, lentils, salt and pepper along with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook covered for 25-30 minutes.
  
• Serve hot with raita.