simple masoor dal khichdi

Khichdi is my absolute favorite, and the easiest recipe to make. It's got my two favorite things - rice and daal! I could eat khichdi day and night for the rest of my life and not complain. This recipe is adapted from Madhura's Kitchen.

Ingredients
1 cup basmati rice
3/8 cup whole masoor daal  - yes, 3/8th. That's 1/4 cup + half of a 1/4 cup
1 tsp ghee - or adjust to your liking
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

pinch of asafetida (hing)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhaniya)
1/4 tsp red chilli powder (laal mirch)

Salt to taste - I added about 1-1/2 tsp

2-3/4 cups water - I used a bit more 

Steps

1. Wash both the rice and daal together in cold water until clear water runs.
2. In a pressure cooker (and a pressure cooker it has to be, because this daal will take forever to cook otherwise), heat up some oil first.
3. Add cumin seeds - sauté for a bit.
4. Add asafetida and turmeric powder. Sauté for a few seconds.
5. Add coriander powder and red chilli powder, and mix well.
6. Add the washed rice and daal and mix well so that the rice and dal grains are coated with ghee.
7. Then add the water, salt to taste, and once the water comes to a boil, put on the lid and cook for 12 minutes. When cooking in a pressure cooker, I don't do whistle numbers because my cooker is smaller than what most people have and if I go by whistle numbers, I'd have undercooked food :( Though, 12 minutes was just enough to get the daal cooked thankfully!
8. After 12-13 minutes, turn off the heat and let the pressure release in its own time.
9. Open the cooker, scoop out a serving and serve with a dollop of ghee. Or with a side of pickles and raita (recipe on the BEST raita in the whole wide world...coming soon!)

Daal Palak

Today's special: DAAL PALAK/PALAK DAAL

INGREDIENTS

1 cup toor daal
5 oz baby spinach leaves (washed and chopped)
1 tomato (finely chopped)
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon laal mirch (red chilly powder)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon haldi (turmeric powder)
1 teaspoon dhania powder (coriander powder)
2 table spoon Oil
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
Salt to taste

METHOD

1. Toor daal + haldi + some salt: Boil this about double the amount of water. Or use a pressure cooker or rice cooker if you know how to :-) (This took me 30 minutes probably without a pressure cooker)
   
2. Heat the oil and add cumin seeds.
3. Once the cumin seeds turn brown, add the chopped onions and sautee until they're pretty much fried. (At this point I add a little bit of the masalas to avoid adding them all in the end. This way the spices get absorbed in the food at each step and there's less waiting time in the end.)
4. Keep the heat on medium & add tomatoes and cover the vessel to allow the tomatoes to soften. (At this point, I add some more spice)
5. Put in the chopped spinach leaves and let everything cook for another 5-10 minutes.
6. Once the tomato+onion+spinach mixture is done, go ahead and add the daal to it and let everything cook together for another 5-10 minutes.
7. Make sure to taste for salt etc.