Make This Wholesome Toor Dal Khichdi In Pressure Cooker

Rice and lentils are cooked together in a dish called khichdi. The types of lentils chosen range from toor, chana, moong, and masoor. Toor dal khichdi with vegetables is a filling and hearty one-pot dish. Hailing from a Bengali family, I have been used to making khichdi with mung and masoor dal. One of my friends from Uttarakhand introduced me to the toor dal version. My palate instantly sensed the difference in flavours and a distinct taste. She uses pressure cooker to make this comfort food and it hardly takes any time. 

I was told that there is usually no soaking and precooking of the dal, and thus, the dish is made in a jiffy. A few uses chana dal or a blend of chana, toor, and moong dal. But the most common recipe includes only toor dal. Depending on the consistency, one can decide how much water goes into it.

Toor dal khichdi

Ingredients:

• ⅔ cup basmati rice (cup measurement 180 ml)
• ⅓ cup toor dal
• 2 baby potatoes (peeled and diced)
• ½ cup spinach (washed and chopped)
• 10 French beans (cut into halves)
• 1 carrot (peeled and diced medium size)
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
• 1 tomato (chopped)
• ½ medium sized onion sliced
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 cinnamon sticks
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamoms
• ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 4 green chillies
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

Method

1. Mix the dal and rice in a bowl and wash them thoroughly. And soak for half an hour.
2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker (ideally 2-3 litre capacity). Add cumin seeds, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon and bay leaf. Let them splutter.
3. Introduce the chopped onions and saute them until they turn soft.
4. Add ginger, garlic paste, and green chillies and cook till the paste emits the fried aroma.
5. Blend in the cut potatoes pieces and stir fry for a minute
6. Now add the cut beans, carrots, and cauliflower and give a thorough mix. Add the chopped spinach and cook till all the spices are absorbed.
7. Add tomato slices and salt to taste and cook for a few minutes on low flame.
8. Drain the excess water from the rice and dal and pour them into sauteed vegetables.
9. Cook for 3-4 minutes on low flame, stirring occasionally.  
10. Pour 1 ¼ cup or as the desired amount of water. Layer it with chopped coriander leaves.
11. Put the lid on, and once the pressure starts building up, place the whistle.
12. Keeping the flame on high, let it give one whistle. Then lower the flame and cook for another couple of minutes.
13. Turn off the flame. Let the pressure release naturally. It might take 15 minutes.  
14. Open the lid and check the salt and liquid consistency and adjust accordingly.

Serve with a dollop of ghee and curd and papad.

Note: One can use vegetables of their choice. A few also keep the rice and dal ratio equal. In that case, go for 1: 1 ¾ cups of rice and dal to water ratio to get a grainy rice texture. For a mushy khichdi, add more water. If you want it to be mushier, then cook for three whistles.