Cooking with Brooke: Khichri

Last night for dinner I made Khichri, which just a version of Indian lentils and rice. I'm terrible at following recipes and generally don't like to use timers, so my version was certainly slightly different than the recipe I am about to share, but even with all of my additions it turned out fabulously, making me assume this is a recipe you can't mess up (as long as you stay in the same flavor neighborhood). For fun, I'll include all of the changes I made in this color.

Taken from Extending The Table:

In a large sauce pan ( frying pan) heat 2 tbl. oil; I just eyeballed the oil amount.

Add and saute 2 minutes: (I sauteed longer to better enhance and combine flavors, and because I was busy organizing the spices)

1 large onion, chopped
2 green peppers, sliced (I used 1 orange. Two would have been nice)
2-inch stick of cinnamon (I didn't have a stick, so I used ground, eyeballing and, mostly, smelling how much)
4 cardamom pods or 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (omitted)
4 whole cloves (again, I substituted ground spice here, being careful not to add too much. Cloves can be powerful.)
2 cloves of garlic, diced
Curry powder
Cayenne to taste. I actually only put a little in and added the amount I wanted to each bowl so Truman could eat the un-spiced version.

After two minutes (or more) add:

1 cup uncooked rice (if brown , soak 30 minutes and drain first) I missed that instruction because it was at the end of the recipe, so when my rice wasn't done at the end, I simply boiled the whole thing until it was done.

1/2 cup lentils. I chose to do 3/4 cup for both rice and lentils because the ratio seemed off to me.

Stir-fry for 5 minutes, then add:

1 1/2 cups of potatoes, cubed
1 cup cauliflower (omitted)
1 large tomato, chopped (omitted)
1 1/2 tsp. salt (added random amount of sea salt that was almost certainly less than this)
4 cups water

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice, lentils and vegetables are tender, 20-30 minutes. Consistency will be like stew, not dry or fluffy.

The recipe also suggests using any vegetables you want, especially dark green leafies. I suggest garnishing with cilantro.

If this post hasn't scared you away from ever cooking with me then you should try this. It was delicious and, really, It would be hard to mess it up, as you have seen. Next time I am picking up the missing spices and adding in the cauliflower and maybe some carrots.

Side note: The book says "Khichri is one of the foods that Hindu people serve to the gods and goddesses during Pujas (prayers). It is also one of the first solid foods offer to babies."