Khichdi is my all-time favourite comfort meal for any season. It is accommodating in nature by virtue of being cooked either for people feeling under the weather or generally to lift someone’s spirit if feeling gloomy. It can be served as a complete meal any time of the day. Being a travel enthusiast and a keen foodie, I have been fortunate enough to explore the flavour of various kinds of authentic khichdi from different parts of India, but Panchamel Khichdi remains my personal favourite. I cook it often at home with my own variation of basic spices and ingredients. It is extremely easy to cook and is high in nutritional value owing to the combination of protein packed lentil and rice. It is called Panchamel because it is made with the combination of 5 varieties of daland rice. I prefer cooking this humble recipe with no vegetable as the creamy texture goes well with the veggie mish mash served along with the khichdi. Also, I prefer cooking it with only 4 varieties of dal instead of 5. This khichdi tastes divine when served with Chokha (mish mash of grilled brinjal, potato and tomatoes) , pickle ,curd and papad. Do not miss the dollop of ghee which is used to top up the piping hot khichdi.
Wash and soak the rice and daal for half an hour.
Put all the soaked dal and rice in a pressure cooker along with 8 cups of water, salt, and turmeric. Pressure cook the dal and rice mixture for 2 whistles and simmer it in low flame for 3-4 minutes after 2 whistle.
Once the pressure has been released, check the consistency of the khichdi, it should not be too runny or too thick. Preferable semi liquid consistency. Add boiled water to adjust the consistency as shown in the pic.
Now its time to add tempering to the Khichdi. Heat ghee in a pan and put all the ingredients for tempering together including the chopped coriander. Once the cumin starts crackling, add the tempering mixture into the khichdi.
Serve Khichdi when it is piping hot and do not forget to top up the khichdi with a dollop of desi ghee and the accompaniments of pickle , papad, curd and chokha
Meanwhile you can do the preparation for making the chokha, roast brinjals, tomatoes on a grilled pan separately. Alternatively, you can roast them over fire on gas stove.
Before grilling the brinjal, I slit open them into two halves and then make slits in them in the middle white portion to put a tsp of hing and insert green chilies as shown in the picture
Once the veggies are roasted, peel off the skin and mash them properly to a fine smooth texture. You must use your hands for mashing the veggies
Now add mustard oil, salt, chilies, coriander leaves and the stuffed red chilly pickle into the chokha. I like it this way along with Khichdi. Try it!
Refrigerate left overs
Ratio of rice and dal should be such that the quantity of rice should always be lesser than the dal
Khichdi should always be served hot or else it becomes thicker in consistency instantly.
Add only hot water to adjust the consistency.
Most important is to use good amount of ghee and not to feel guilty of consuming it. Khichdi without good amount of ghee is incomplete.
.Good quality of hing also raises the aroma of the tempering and thereby lifting the tatste of the khichdi
