Every peasant cuisine has incredible ingenious tricks for getting a lot of nutrition out of a small amount of ingredients. –Michael Pollan
A simple dish consisting of rice and lentils, khichdi is deeply rooted in the history of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, a peasant food of rural India, it has since been reincarnated into elaborate dishes fit for royalty. Present day, amongst Indians, it holds the title as both the ultimate comfort food and a perfect plant-based source of protein. Throughout India, it is one of the first foods given to babies and long before the word “detox” became a thing here in the West, it has been Ayurveda’s answer to detoxification.
Each region of India has its own version of khichdi. In my birth province of Gujarat, it remains much like the original peasant dish and consists of no more than rice, split mung dal, a pinch of turmeric and a dallop of ghee and is always served with kadhi, a spiced, soup-like yogurt curry.
I know from experience (married to a Caucasian dude!), that the idea of a soup based on yogurt may not sound all that appetizing to most here in the West. But for Gujaratis, kadhi is as beloved a complement to rice as toor dal and is often served with plain rice alongside our toor dal.
A meal of khichdi and kadhi is normally accompanied with a vegetable curry. My favourite accompaniment is a simple spinach curry. There is something about these three dishes…. a match made in heaven!
Gujarati Khichdi
(serves 4-6)
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 cup split mung dal
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- pinch of salt (optional)
- 2 tsp ghee (or more as per preference) for serving
- Combine the rice and dal in a bowl and wash and rinse using cold water a few times.
- Drain and add to a saucepan and add 3 1/2 cups of cold water, turmeric and salt, if using.
- Cook over medium-high heat, covered and bring to a boil. (Careful, keep an eye on it as it can boil over).
- Once boiling, you can remove the cover and continue to cook until the rice and dal are cooked through. Add additional water, if required. If excess water remains, carefully, spill it out by tilting the pan over the sink while placing the cover on the pan, leaving a crack open, with the other hand. In my house, we prefer to have khichdi as dry as possible and just cooked, whereas traditionally it is slightly overcooked and on the mushy side.
- Serve hot with ghee drizzled over it.
Gujarati Kadhi
(serves 4-6)
- 400 g yogurt
- 1 tsp ground cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
- ¼ ground turmeric
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 small chili (or more or less depending on your tolerance), finely sliced and seeds removed
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- 10-12 g garlic, finely minced
- 300-360 g water
For tempering
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 small clove of garlic, thinly sliced
- 10-12 curry leaves, washed and patted dry
For garnishing
- 2-3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
- Combine all the ingredients for the kadhi in a medium sized saucepan. Note, the more water you use, the thinner the consistency will be.
- Heat over low-medium heat, stirring often, until it is just boiling. Do not go past the boiling point as this will cause the yogurt to separate and render it unusable.
- For tempering, heat oil in a saucepan. Add cumin seeds and allow them to crackle. Add the garlic and allow to brown slightly. Add the curry leaves and allow them to sizzle. Turn off heat. At this point, you can either pour the hot oil mixture into the yogurt mixture or pour the yogurt mixture into the saucepan with the oil. Either way, be careful as there will be some spluttering when combined.
- Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with khichdi or plain rice.
conifères & feuillus 
Gorgeous images!
Annika, khichdi is my favorite comfort food and spinach kadi used to be my mom’s specialty. You photographers are stunning!
Thank you so much Deeksha. I, too, am a fan of khichdi as well as spinach kadi.
Same pinch, me too…. I love spinach flavor in kadhi a lot!
Yessssss, a double portion please! I’ll pass on the ghee, but may I have some papad on the side? Khichdi is my go-to comfort food. And Annika, your pics are stunning – they elevate simple food to amazingly sexy heights!
Haha… thank you!
What a delicious recipe – sounds incredible, the combo of flavours is so tasty!
Lovely Khichdi & kadhi.
Delicious dishes and your pictures are gorgeous. I will have to give this a try.
Looks delicious Annika! Love your photos:)
I lost your comment on my maple pecan coffeecake post:(
I am so sorry about that…If you comment again I would truly appreciate it. Anyways, thank you!! xx
Thank you and no problem, I would be more than happy to. (But I think you can untrash a comment in wordpress… try it out.. I will visit your site a little later and gladly put my comment if it is not already there) 🙂
It looks delicious. I so have to try the khadi! I tend to make Khichdi when I feel under the weather, next time I’ll try this version 🙂
Hope you like it!
great quote!
And here it is! It looks like the perfect dish for a detox – simple, warming and easy to digest. I’m a Vata type so this would be perfect for me.
Oh good you found it. Amazing how dishes transform across lands and time, isn’t it. Yes, the original is very easy on the digestive system!
What beautiful photography Annika. It looks amazing and it sounds delicious too.
Thank you Myra!
Annika, what an interesting dish! I’ve never heard of it before. It’s so true that many dishes in many countries that began life as peasant food have endured and made their way into modern popular eating. Creativity has always been alive in the world of food! I can imagine how nourishing and delicious this would be to eat. And a fabulous colour.
Thank you Tracey.I am not surprised that many people would not know about this dish… it certainly isn’t one that makes the menu at Indian restaurants. But if you are looking for authentic, everyday, home-cooked meals… this is it! After all these years, my husband still doesn’t have much liking for the yogurt curry, but khichdi is my default way of cooking rice… I rarely cook it plain white.
I do sometimes wonder how “authentic” the dishes are at our local Indian restaurants. That’s why recipes like this are such a treat, Annika. My husband is not a fan of just plain rice so I’m always on the lookout for recipes to jazz it up. As always, thank you!
Been meaning to look into Ayerveda. I guess this would be a good Start. Thanks for sharing, Annika! Btw, “Caucasian dude” – LOL
🙂
also..great pictures!
yum! looks amazing. I like Pollans perspective on things!
Thank you! And yes, love Pollan’s take on food!
I love both khichdi and kadhi. Though in Calcutta, where I come from, we pair khichdi with discs of fried aubergine. Also, I like the way you have shot the dishes. I would like to reach out into the screen 😉
It’s very interesting to see the different variations of this dish. I love aubergine and think that makes a lovely combination as well!
Yes, different strokes, different folks 🙂 Yet with such commonalities.
Looks delicious & I can smell the aroma already.
Thank you!