I've got a thing for bowls full of mush. I start most of my days with oatmeal. I love a good soft soup, a heap of mashed potatoes, or some buttery grits.
Of course, most bowls full of mush taste best when there's something on top to contrast the texture, like crunchy nuts, fried onions, juicy fruits, or vibrant herbs.
This brings me to the ultimate bowl full of mush: khichdi (sometimes spelled kitchari or khichadi), a supremely flavorful mixture of soft-cooked rice and hulled lentils stirred or topped with some fat and spices and other good stuff. The dish hails from South Asia, and every cook seems to have their preferred version.
In his book, I Am From Here, Vishwesh Bhatt describes the "civil war" in his household between his khichdi and his wife's, an ancestral fight passed down from his parents.
While khichdi is comfort food for many people, it’s also viewed as a cure-all of sorts in Ayurvedic medicine.
In fact, I first learned about khichdi from a guest speaker who taught a 101 lesson about Ayurveda in an herbalism course I took. She described it as a dish to make when the seasons transition or if you feel like you need to easy something that’s easy to digest.
(Herbalism, you ask? Yes! Back in 2019, I studied some basics about plant medicine with a local nurse and herb farmer to help inform my writing for The Chef's Garden book.)
Entrepreneur and Ayurvedic health counselor Radhi Devlukia-Shetty wrote, "Kitchari is a dish in Ayurveda recommended for pretty much everything. Cold? Kitchari. Sick? Kitchari. Detox? Kitchari. Sad? Kitchari. Happy? Kitchari,"
My friend Phoebe Lapine explains on her blog, "The theory behind this dish's efficacy has a lot to do with the concept of food combining. A mono-nutrient fast gives our digestive systems a much-needed break from dealing with a mess of different foods every meal. The dal and rice is cooked until just short of mush, so it's easier to absorb. The spice mix fires up our belly, and the ghee (or coconut oil) helps lube up your tubing and allows fat-soluble nutrients to assimilate."
While I make khichdi when I'd like a re-set, I also whip it up frequently because it's easy, filling, satisfying, highly customizable, and so delicious.
The fact that it makes me feel good is a bonus.
Over the past few years, I've cooked khichdi many ways: On the stovetop, in the Instant Pot, with added vegetables, without them, as thick as oatmeal, as thin as soup, and with a host of different spices.
I've also recently switched from sauteeing the aromatic vegetables before adding the rice and lentils to just throwing them all in the pot together. It's a technique I learned from the Sunday "Everything" Dal recipe in Vish's book.
I make khichdi with the traditional hulled and split mung beans (moong dal) when I have them on hand. Since they’re hard to find at my local supermarket, I usually have to buy them online.
A few weeks ago, I unearthed a large bag of 2020-era yellow split peas in the pantry, so I've been making khichdi with those.
Because I had bought them in bulk, I'm not sure if these are technically split yellow pigeon peas (toor dal) or split chickpeas (chana dal), sometimes confusingly called yellow lentils.
Either way, a bag of yellow split peas from Goya or any other hulled yellow legume will work fine. (Hulled legumes work best in the khichdi because there are no skins to keep the starchy interiors intact. Instead, the lentils break down a bit and thicken the liquid. Plus, the absence of skins makes the lentils easier to digest.)
Below is the khichdi recipe I've been making lately. As usual, I've also offered a few ways to vary it, so you can make it your own.
Yellow Split Pea Khichdi
Serves 3 to 4
Time: 35 mins
1 small yellow onion
3 fat garlic cloves
1 inch peeled ginger
1 large carrot (optional)
1 cup yellow split peas (or toor dal or chana dal) or hulled yellow mung beans
½ cup white basmati rice
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 small jalapeño (optional)
2 tablespoons ghee, butter, coconut oil, or canola oil
½ teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
½ teaspoon coriander seeds (or ground coriander)
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (or ground fennel)
1 lemon
Plain yogurt and chopped cilantro, for serving (optional)
Prep the vegetables, split peas, and rice
Finely chop the onion, garlic, and ginger. (Or if you prefer, you can pound the garlic and ginger to a paste in a mortar.)
Coarsely grate the carrot on a box grater.
Put the split peas and rice in a sieve and rinse them well.
Start the khichdi
In a medium pot, combine the split peas and rice with the onion, garlic, ginger, and carrot. Stir in 5 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt, and the turmeric, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Using a slotted spoon, skim off any foam that rises to the top.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are broken down and soupy, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, prep the chile and toast the spices
If you're using the jalapeño, remove the stem and quarter it lengthwise. Cut out the seeds if desired or leave them in if you want more heat. Finely chop the jalapeño.
In a small skillet, melt the ghee over medium heat and add the jalapeño, if using. Cook until it just starts to soften, about 2 minutes.
Add the mustard, cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds, and toast, swirling the skillet above the heat a few times, until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Remove from the heat. (If you're using any ground spices, toast the whole seeds first and then stir in the ground spices a few seconds before you remove the skillet from the heat.)
Finish the khichdi and serve
Scrape the spices with the fat into the khichdi and stir. Add the juice of half a lemon, then taste the khichdi and add more lemon juice, if desired. Season with more salt, if desired, as well.
Ladle the khichdi into bowls and top with yogurt and cilantro, if using.
The short version
Finely chop the onion, garlic, and ginger or pound the garlic and ginger to a paste in a mortar. Coarsely grate the carrot.
In a medium pot, combine the peas and rice with the vegetables, 1 teaspoon salt, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until soft and the peas are broken down, 20 to 25 minutes. Add more water if you like.
Meanwhile, finely chop the jalapeño, then sweat the jalapeño in the melted ghee. Add the spices and toast until fragrant.
Add the spices and fat to the khichdi, stir in the juice from half a lemon, plus more if desired. Season with more salt, if desired and serve with yogurt and cilantro.
Swaps
Instead of yellow onion, you can use white onion or red onion. (A little diced raw white or red onion on top is a nice touch, too.)
Instead of yellow legumes, use red lentils (masoor dal).
Instead of basmati rice, use long-grain white rice. (Preferably not converted rice.) P.S. I wouldn’t use brown rice in khichdi because you want the white rice to break down a bit.
Instead of jalapeño, use serrano or another green chile. Or use whole crushed dried red chiles. (Or skip the chile.)
Instead of the entire list of spices in the recipe, you can use just some of them. Or experiment with adding other spices, including smashed cardamom pods, fenugreek, curry leaves, a whole cinnamon stick, whole cloves, black mustard seeds, or some garam masala.
Instead of lemon, use lime.
Bonus points
Add other vegetables. I love khichdi with sweet potato (which I add right from the beginning so it has time to get tender) or frozen peas (which I add toward the end). You could also add in diced squash or greens. Use your cook's intuition to figure out when to add them.
Serve khichdi with lime pickle or other Indian pickle.
Or top with a little tomato or date chutney.
If you don't need this to be vegetarian, try a little cooked ground lamb or some grilled shrimp on top or alongside.
Or try one of these ideas from India Today.
Did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see how it turns out! Tag me on Instagram @kristincdonnelly or use the hashtag #missiondinner
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