Spicy Brown Rice Khichadi

Let me start this post with a list of grains, lentils & beans in my Pantry.

• Toor Dal (Split pigeon pea)
• Yellow Moong Dal
• Green Moong Dal
• Black eyed beans
• Sona Masoori Rice
• Basmati Rice
• Brown Rice
• Urad Dal (Split Black gram)
• Chickpeas
• Red Kidney beans
• Moth (for Matki)
• Whole Moong Beans
• Whole Urad (Whole Black gram)
• Dried Vaal (Hyacinth Beans)
• Brown Chickpeas
• Red Chori (Adzuki Beans)
• Chana Dal (Split Bengal gram)
• Masoor (Brown lentils)

 

Thats one huge list specially considering the size of my kitchen. Apart from the above I have the usual ‘essentials’ such as wheat flour, all purpose flour, rice flour, nuts, Semolina, Besan and so on. The list really is endless here.

I do try to use all of these regularly and sometimes manage to do it, but very often some of things get pushed in the back to make room for newer finds and then conveniently forgotten until you get up & decide to clean the pantry or till an event comes by to jolt you and make you think about these things.

I had got Brown Rice in the hope of replacing normal rice with it & thereby start eating healthy. I tried to do that but we were not very comfortable with the idea of having the very nutty Brown rice with Aamti or varan & could not even imagine a curd rice with it! So as expected the packet was put in the back to be used as & when I found something interesting to make with it. Nupur’s Blog Bites ensured that I did just that. Sra promptly posted a perfect recipe a few days back, almost as if she could read my mind. Now I had no excuse to avoid using the Brown Rice which was really pushed back in the shelf.

Spicy Brown Rice Khichadi

Serves 2 as a meal
Ingredients

• 1.5 cups Brown Rice, soaked for at least 30 minutes
• 1 tblsp Ghee
• 3-4 cloves
• 1” piece of Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp Hing (Asafoetida)
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1-2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 medium sized potato, cubed
• 1 Carrot, diced
• 1 Medium Tomato, chopped
  
  

Method:
Heat the Ghee in a deep pan or in a pressure cooker.

Add the cloves, cinnamon, cumin seeds and as they start sizzling add the hing.

Add the potatoes & carrot and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add the salt, turmeric powder, garam masala, red chilli powder and coriander powder. mix well and let it fry a few more minutes.

Add the soaked and washed rice, mix well and fry for another minute. Add 3 cups of water, close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook for approx 10-15 minutes. The time will depend upon the type of pressure cooker so calculate accordingly.

Serve hot as is or with a raita.

My Notes: Although the method is quite similar to the preparation of Masala Bhaat that we make quite often, the ghee made it taste entirely different. The Brown rice was perfect for this and we enjoyed it on its own.