Khichari (Soothing Dal and Rice)

PJ has been cooking a lot lately, just because he wants to. The fact that he wants to cook, after a 10-12 hour day at work, says a lot about the kinda guy I married. He made us khichari the other day, not because anyone was sick. He just wanted to give it a try. Khichari, like PJ, is a keeper.

Khichari is Indian chicken soup. It is very nutritious, easy to digest and apparently cures just about everything. This recipe is adapted from Heaven’s Banquet, Vegetarian Cooking the Ayurveda Way by Miriam Kasin Hospadar.

We decided to leave the mustard seeds out in the future. They disturb the smooth texture by adding a bit of grittiness; not to mention leaving black spots which disturb our five year old’s aesthetic sensibilities. Plus if you reheat the khichari in the microwave, the seeds seem to burn and create a distracting–although not entirely unpleasant–smoky flavor. (It’s probably counterproductive to microwave an ayurvedic food but oh well, microwaving is a way of life in this household.)

Khichari

Dal and Rice

1 cup rice (basmati is called for but we are all about Uncle Ben’s converted rice)
2/3 cup moong or toor dal (easiest types of dal to digest)
5 cups water

Bring the rice, dal and water to boil. Cover, reduce heat and summer until dal is tender, all water is absorbed and mixture resembles a thick porridge (about 30 minutes with converted rice, one hour with basmati.)

Masala

2 tablespoons ghee or oil
pinch of asofoetida
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1&1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
sugar to taste
optional heat: cayenne
optional garnishes: chopped fresh cilantro, green onions, minced garlic, shredded ginger

Heat the spices in ghee. Pour over the rice/dal mix and stir thoroughly. Add salt and sugar to taste. Garnish with whatever appeals. Serve to the sad or sickly. Call the doctor in the morning– if there is a need. Or just eat it because it tastes good.

Pakoras / Bhajis (Vegetable Fritters)

If I tell JL that a food we are serving is Indian, she often tells me she doesn’t eat “India food” anymore. In spite of her resistance, she is gradually eating more and more of it, but only if I keep repeatedly introducing a dish.

I forgot to tell her Pakoras are Indian but even if I had, the fact that they came out of the Fry Daddy made them more appealing to her. And what a great way to hide the vegetables!

PJ got this recipe out of The International Kosher Cookbook by Batia Plotch. The author assures us that gram (chick pea) flour, aka besan, does not absorb as much oil as white flour does, and also there is an absence of egg in this batter–so it beats a Happy Meal anyway. PJ substituted rice flour for 1/3 cup of the gram flour to lighten it up a tad.

Pakoras / Bhajis

1 cup besan/gram flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ghee or oil
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1&1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 optional teaspoon cayenne
filtered/dechlorinated water

Mix all ingredients with enough water to make a thick batter, then dip and deep fry whatever you want in it until golden brown. It makes a fabulous fish batter too!

With this amount of batter, PJ sliced and deep fried:

3 veggie hot dogs
1 small zucchini
3 small potatoes
1 onion
a dozen baby carrots

and we called it a meal. JL dipped hers in ketchup (that’s a chutney right?) I rolled mine in a mild idli spice mix that I picked up at the Indian grocery. Next time I am going to try it with mangos. Sorry no pictures, we were too hungry!