Kichadi

Have you ever wished for something warm for a cold day, soothing for tummy yet flavorful and little spicy, kid approved,one pot meal, fast to cook with very less ingredients ???

Yep...There is actually one...Kichadi. It is called by different names in different parts of India.We , in South India make "Paruppu Sadham" meaning "Dhal rice ", which is a close cousin of this Kichadi with few more ingredients and slightly different preparation.It is a very flavorful one pot meal for a well suited for a lazy day. Whenever there is kid's movie night in our house, we have a steaming bowl of kichadi in our hands :)))

Typically you can add whatever ingredients you would like to this kichadi, to get it according to your taste. Here is my version of the ever versatile 'Kichadi'

Ingredients
For Pressure cooking:
Rice             - 1/2 cup (whatever you use for normal cooking. I used sona masoori rice)
Moong dhal - 1/2 cup
Asafoetida   - a pinch
turmeric       -  less than 1/4 tsp
water           - 4 cups
salt              - 1/2 tsp

Wash rice and dhal together. Add the rest of the ingredients.Cook the above ingredients for 3 whistles.
If cooking in open pot, soak for 30 minutes or so and add more water and cook until it is nice and soft which will take typically 20- 30 minutes.

For sautéing :
Oil/ghee    - 2 tsp
Cumin      - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - few
Onion       - 1 (small) (optional)
Garlic       - 1 , cut finely
Green chilliest -2 , cut medium
Tomato    - 1 (medium)
coriander leaves - chopped

Add oil in to a heated pan and add the above ingredients one by one. Take care not to burn the garlic. It  spoils the entire dish. Wait till everything turns in to a beautiful chutney consistency.
Now add the cooked rice and dhal. Let it blend for 3 to 5 minutes. Add chopped coriander in the end.
Drizzle or pour ghee (!)  whichever is your taste preference . I like lots of ghee to this Kichadi.

Once you add the ghee, it will melt in the heat of the Kichadi beautifully. Savor it before it becomes cold. It tastes best when it is hot !!!

Variations:
Whatever ingredients you add for sautéing, it is entirely up to you.
Throw in some cloves, cinnamon if you like that flavor.
Add / omit onion, garlic. Still Kichadi will taste good.
Some people prefer kichadi without tempering .It works fine too. But I can guarantee,  if you eat the sautéed version, you will never go back to the untempered version :)