When It Rains........

It is time to have khichdi. That was the tradition back home and as we all realise at some point in time that the more we move away from home, the more we try to hold on to small bits and pieces from childhood. And memory. But i digress :)

So, brishti meant khichdi, papad, anchar and either fish fry or thick fluffy omelletes and on days when mom was feeling generous - mutton curry. Absolutely delicious and to die for. But the first thing i truly did not like about california was - it doesn't rain here when it should - and has no distinct monsoons to speak of. What a disgrace. All those beautiful wet green colours missed. However as an apology, the end of fall and onset of winter is usually marked with occasional showers which makes the hills in the distance cover with morning mist and urges one to dive right back into the blanket and have garam garam chai, pakodi and khichdi.

Heres how i make it.

Ingredients :

Basmati rice - 1/2 cup (you can also use boiled/unboiled rice, depending on you absolutely)
Masoor dal - 1/2 cup (the basic idea to make a tasty khichdi is to give an amount of dal equal to the amount of rice)
Onion - 1 medium sized, chopped
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Beans (or any other veggie you prefer or otherwise would not have like carrots)
Potatoes - 2 medium sized, cut into pieces of 4
Peas - 1 cup, washed with warm water
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 2 (preferably coarsely ground)
Cloves - 3-4
Bay leaves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Ghee - 2 tsp (for the calorie conscious - you can do away with this)
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

Wash the dal and rice in a bowl and keep it soaked in warm water. It helps both to cook a little more quickly.

Heat some oil in a big wok. Add the bay leaves, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. When they start spluttering, add the onions. Fry till pink. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Fry well. Now add the potatoes and fry it till they become slightly orange tinged. Add the peas and the beans (or add the veggies in the order required, depending on which veggies you are using). Fry for two minutes and add the tomatoes. Mix well and fry for another two minutes. For khichdi, you don't want the tomatoes to be mashed, but nicely cooked but intact. Now add the rice, dal and 3 cups of water. If you like your khichdi slightly fluid (as i do), add another cupful after the rice is half cooked. Stir occasionally.

Alternately you can fry all the spices and veggies in a pressure cooker and then add the rice and dal and pressure cook them through one whistle. It is quicker, but the previous method definitely tastes better.

Before serving add 2 tsps of ghee and mix. The above proportions serve 2.

I had it with fish fry and anchar. Also - please to note the snowman plates. These are especially for the holiday season :)