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Friday, April 5, 2019

A - Z Indian Biryani / Pulao / Khichdi Series ~ E for Ek Toap Na Dal Bhaat

Here is a one pot khichdi from the Gujarati kitchens. It is wholesome, nutritious and a filling meal as a khichdi should be but is somewhat a special one. It is easy and quick to prepare this as well. This is one of the dishes I cooked early on but I started to have second thoughts because I have another recipe in the line which involves stuffing and I was not impressed with the images I captured. It was a cloudy day in the middle of Midwest winter and there was not even a single image that looked crisp. I cooked another khichdi last week, in case I didn't want to go with it. However I changed my mind again today and decided to go with this Gujarati meal, I found on Tarla Dalal's website. 

Calling it a one pot rice - lentil khichdi would be misleading since it is not your everyday khichdi where you dump spices, rice, lentil and vegetables in one pot and cook. Vegetables used here are not chopped but stuffed and eggplants are an interesting addition too, considering that it is not commonly used in a khichdi preparation. The addition of vegetables, stuffed with a coconut - cilantro base is the highlight of this khichdi and it definitely elevates the simple khichdi to an entertaining meal. The onions I used were tiny and kind of disintegrated into the khichdi and so, it is hard to notice them in the images. 

This dal bhaat can be cooked under 30 minutes, if soaking toor dal is not involved. I have noticed that the same toor dal without any prior soaking can be cooked in 3 whistles in some cookers and some take longer even if they are newly bought cookers. If you own a cooker which can cook dal in 3 whistles, go ahead with the recipe without soaking dal. If not, soak dal for 1 to 2 hours before so that rice and dal gets cooked at the same time. Otherwise, the rice would be a mush and the dal may not be cooked enough. The stuffing can be changed to a personal favorite one as well instead of using the one mentioned in the recipe. I changed the stuffing slightly while cooking though I am posting the same one mentioned in the original recipe.

Ingredients: (Yield - 4 servings)
1 cup rice
1/3 cup pigeon peas / toor dal
2 1/2 cups water (I used 1.5 + 2/3 cup, It is perfect if you prefer a dry version khichdi like shown in the image.)
2 tbsp. ghee
1 tsp. cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1/4 cup frozen peas
4 baby potatoes
4 small variety brinjals / eggplants 
4 to 6 baby onions 

Ingredients for stuffing:
1 tbsp. coriander powder
1 tbsp. cumin powder
1 tbsp. sugar (I didn't use.)
1.5 tbsp. red chili powder
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
3/4 cup fresh coconut, grated
1/3 cup finely minced cilantro / coriander leaves

Directions:
* If the variety of toor dal being used is not going to pressure cook in 3 whistles or cook at the same time as rice, wash and soak the dal in water for 1 or 2 hours and drain the water. There is no need to soak the rice but wash and drain.
* Combine all ingredients mentioned under stuffing in a small bowl and mix well. 
* Peel the potatoes and onions. Make criss-cross slits on onions, potatoes and brinjals, taking care not to separate the 4 segments. (Keep the stalk of the brinjals intact and cut along the opposite end. Cut a + mark, not cutting all the way through.)
* Stuff the onions, potatoes and brinjals evenly with the stuffing prepared in the above step. Keep them aside.
* Heat ghee in a small (3 liter) pressure cooker and add cumin seeds. When they start to brown add asafoetida, turmeric powder, drained rice and toor dal. Saute them for about a minute, on medium flame. 
* Add green peas, salt and water and stir well. Next add the stuffed vegetables and gently stir the mixture once. Pressure cook on high flame for 3 whistles.
* When the valve pressure is gone, remove the lid.
* If preferred, add another tbsp. of ghee at this point and gently mix.
* Serve it with some plain yogurt / butter milk. 

So far in my Biryani / Pulao / Khichdi series,
A for Ambur Biryani
B for Basanti Pulao / Misthi Pulao
C for Corn - Fenugreek Greens Pulao
D for Donne Biryani





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13 comments:

vaishali sabnani said...

This is a very famous Khichadi recipe from Tarla Dalal and I have made it in the past . I quite like the clicks , everything looks perfect , and the Khichadi looks awesome . I am tempted to make it again . I have Khichadi which is a little different than this but on similar lines .
coming up soon :)

CookwithRenu said...

First I love the name this dish has got. Second a different way of adding Vegetables in Khichdi. The Khichdi looks irrestible .

Sharmila Kingsly said...

Love your presentation.. So many healthy ingredients in the kichadi..

Harini R said...

Very interesting name and the way the vegetables are stuffed. Must be very flavorful too.

Srivalli said...

I find the dish very interesting Suma, right from the name to the ingredients and the way it is cooked. Very good pick for the letter. Ever since I started making Khichdis, all of us have been enjoying it. So another one to try!

Gayathri Kumar said...

This recipe sounds so unique. The stuffed vegetables cooked with rice and lentils would make a delicious kichdi for sure.

sushma said...

Biryani looks delicious. Love the presentation specially the baby brinjal and potato.

Srividhya said...

This stuffed veggies with rice and lentils - omg so yummm. A unique recipe for sure.

Kalyani said...

great pick for the letter. clever actually... this is a flavourful dish and I havent tasted this yet,... another dish bookmarked from ur rice series :-)

Sowmya :) said...

This is such a unique recipe. I have not heard about this before. The pics look lovely. So glad you decided to share this

CookwithRenu said...

An intersting way to stuff the vegetables and then add to the khichdi. Must have been so flavourful and tasty. Beautiful cicks.

Pavani said...

This recipe is so unique and looks very delicious! It is very interesting how you stuff the vegetables and then add it to the khichdi. Thank you for sharing

Swati said...

This looks so delicious and I like how you have used the stuffed veggies in biryani. Very interesting recipe. so flavourful