One Pot of Warmth - Kitchdi

Yet another fall/winter dish, warms the insides, very balanced, and  makes you feel good about what you are putting inside of your body.  This technically is not a one pot meal. Well it depends, it could be a one pot meal, but it's so much better if you make it two. One big pot, and one little pot.  It's traditionally an Indian dish from the state of Gujarat, where my folks were born.  I used to hate it when I was young. It is not the most beautiful looking dish, actually looks like a large pile of baby food.  But, I have somehow grown to love it.  I have made a few changes to this dish to truly make it a one pot balanced meal.  It is usually made of only rice and split mung lentil, but I have added lots of vegetables to make it a little more nutritious.  There is also a huge dollop of ghee (clarified butter) that is added afterwards, and mashed into the rice and lentil by hand.  It really does add depth and an incredible rich flavor, but man, I don't need the extra fat and calories! If you do, please go right ahead! 

The best part of this dish is the sweet indian mango pickle that goes o

n the side.  Now, this may be diffic

ult to find.  So, you may need to substitute with some sort of sweet salsa, 

made of for example, apple or mango.  Perhaps one of those sweet and spicy high end jellies co

uld do well on the side of this. I have never tried it, but I could see it working.  

Another word about this dish. I have a pressure cooker. This dish is so quick if you have a

 pressure cooker, but it is just as good done on the stove, but you will need more cooking time.  Also, it is almost impossible to make a small amount of this dish.  I suggest sharing with a friend and ask them to bring a container to take some home, or plan on eating it for dinner for the rest of the week.  It does make a good lunch as well! Anyways, enjoy. 

Ingredients: 

2 cups basmati rice, washed

1 cup split mung lentil, either with out without the skin, washed

2 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

5 cups water

3 cups of chopped/diced veggies such as - potato, sweet potato, peas, corn, carrots, green beans, long peppers, eggplant, pumpkin

, squash

For tempering after kitchdi is cooked

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

salt

Directions: 

1. Mix all ingredients (not ingredients for tempering) in a large pot or pressure cooker. If using a pressure cooker, keep stove on high until steam starts to release out of the top of the cooker. Once this begins, time about 7 minutes, that is when you should turn off the stove and wait until the pressure naturally releases. 

If using the stove method, keep stove on high until water begins to boil. Then, cover the pot and put the stove on low. Cook on low for about 30-35 minutes, or until cooked and all water has been absorbed. 

2. Now, if you happy with results at this point, and do not want to make another pot to wash, by all means, stop at this point and enjoy. Otherwise, I highly recommend the next step. The onions are cooked until they are sweet, and really add another dimension of flavor to this dish, without all the fat of ghee! 

3. In a small pot, heat oil and add cumin and mustard seeds on high heat.

4. When the seeds begin to crackle, reduce heat to medium and add onions and a dash of salt. Mix around, and cook until onions are translucent and soft (about 7 minutes)

5. Mix well into the kitchdi. Enjoy!