Khichdi recipe – Dal khichdi is an easy one pot rice & moong lentil dish made under 30 mins. Khichdi also known as khichadi or khichuri is a comfort food that’s most commonly eaten all over India. Most people refer khichdi to be the food for babies and the sick as it is bland in taste. But a well-made khichdi is very delicious, protein packed, healthy and nourishing. It can be served with ghee, papad, and Pickle or achar to spice up your meal.
The name of the dish khichdi is derived from the Sanskrit term “khicca” meaning a dish of rice & legumes. The most common lentil used to make khichadi is moong dal or skinned & split green gram.
According to Ayurveda, moong dal is Tridoshic in nature and can balance all the 3 doshas – vata, pitta & kapha in the body. It is one of the lentils that can balance any kind of disturbances by naturally detoxing the body.
Mung dal is considered to be a light, nourishing, protein packed & easily digestible lentil. So khichdi is also given to babies as a first food, given to the sick during a recovery from illness & is also consumed regularly by normal people as a part of healthy diet.
As such khichdi is not native to any regional cuisine and is made in so many different ways. The simplest way to make dal khichdi is to just cook rice & mung dal with salt to a mushy texture. Then top with ghee and serve hot.
A basic ayurvedic khichdi is made with just rice, moong dal, cumin or jeera, turmeric, ginger, salt & pure cow’s ghee. Ingredients like pepper or any other spice & veggies are optionally used based on the body type.
Tips to make khichdi recipe
1.Most times I make khichdi with minimum spices i.e cumin or jeera alone. However you can also use bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves & cardamoms during winters or monsoon.
2. I usually make this with just a small onion, tomatoes & carrots as preparing other veggies takes some time. However you can also add your favorite veggies like peas, beans & potatoes. It is all about the flavor of veggies you like.
3.If you are making khichdi for a baby then skip using all the spices & salt. Optionally you can add veggies which you have already introduced & suggested by your pediatrician.
4.If you are making khichdi for a person recovering from illness, then skip spices & add a wide variety of veggies which are suggested by your doctor.
5.I have used hand pound rice as this is what we are currently eating. Sometimes I also make khichdi with whole grains like brown rice, dalia, steel cut oats or millets. You may like to check them here
Other khichdi recipes I make
Oats khichadi
Dalia khichadi
Sabudana khichadi
Millet khichadi.
6. We usually dry roast moong dal until aromatic and store it in a jar. Use it whenever needed to make the dish. This adds a lot of aroma. However I have shown a cut short method below.
This simple khichdi is super quick to make so I make it often for my lunch or dinner and serve it with Lassi and pickle.
More Rice Recipes here
Ghee rice
Veg pulao
Tomato rice
Fried rice
Khichdi recipe
Khichdi recipe | How to make khichdi | Dal khichdi
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients for khichdi
- 1 to 2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon cumin or jeera
- 1 bay leaf or 1 sprig of curry leaves (optional)
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon ginger grated or ginger paste
- 1 small onion chopped (optional)
- 1 green chili slit or ½ tsp red chili powder
- 1 small tomato deseeded & chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric or haldi
- salt as needed
- ½ cup rice (or quinoa, steel cut oats, millets)
- ½ cup moong dal or skinless petite yellow lentils (or any other dal)
- 3 to 4 cups water (use 4 cups for porridge consistency)
- 1 pinch asafoetida or hing (optional)
- ½ tablespoons ghee for topping
optional ingredients
- 1 medium carrot cubed
- 8 french beans cut to 1 inch length
- 1 small potato cubed
How to make the recipe
Preparation
- Add rice and dal to a pot.
- Wash them at least thrice & drain water completely.
How to make khichdi
- Heat ghee in a pressure cooker or pot on a medium heat.
- Saute bay leaf & cumin on a low flame for 1 min.
- Then fry ginger until fragrant & sprinkle hing.
- Fry onions and green chilies until the raw smell of onions goes away.
- Add tomatoes, carrots, beans, salt and turmeric and saute for 3 to 4 mins.
- Then add drained daal and rice. Saute for 3 to 4 mins.
- Pour 3 cups water for mushy consistency and 4 cups for porridge like consistency.
- Stir well & taste the water. Add more salt if needed.
- Pressure cook for 2 whistles on a medium flame for a mushy khichdi.
- Cook for 4 to 5 whistles on a low to medium flame for porridge consistency.
- If cooking in a pot, cook until soft adding more water if needed.
- Pour 1 tsp ghee on the hot khichdi. Serve with papad and pickle.
Instant pot Khichdi
- Press saute button (medium) & pour ghee.
- When the ghee melts, add in bay leaf and cumin
- When it sizzles then add in onions & chili.
- Fry until transparent. Next add in ginger, hing, tomatoes, all veggies & turmeric.
- Saute for 2 to 3 mins until tomatoes turn mushy.
- Add & saute drained rice & lentils for another 2 to 3 mins.
- Next add in salt & pour water. Deglaze the pot by scraping the bottom with a spatula to remove bits of food stuck in there if any. Mix well & taste the water.
- Add more salt if needed. Secure the lid & move the steam release handle to sealing.
- Press the pressure cook or manual button (high pressure). Set the timer to 8 mins.
- Or you can also press porridge button & set timer to 9 mins.
- Once it is done, the instant pot beeps, then press cancel and switch off.
- Wait for a natural pressure release for 10 minutes & release the rest manually.
- When the float valve drops, open the lid & stir gently.
- If you like soupy khichdi, add some hot water to bring to consistency you like.
- Top with some ghee & serve khichdi with plain yogurt, pickle or papad.
Video
Video of Khichdi recipe or Dal khichdi
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
- Instant pot cook time for other grains – Quinoa – 6 mins, steel cut oats – 20 mins on porridge mode, millets 8 mins pressure cook.
- To make masala khichdi, Just add 3/4 tsp garam masala along with turmeric.
- For vegetable masala khichdi, add 1.5 cups of mixed veggies like carrots, beans and potatoes. Also stir in 3/4 tsp of garam masala.
- To make palak or spinach khichdi – Use about 1.5 to 2 cups of finely chopped spinach and saute for 2 mins. Then add rice and dal.
If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.
Preparation – khichdi recipe
1. We usually dry roast dal on a low to medium flame until lightly golden. Cool and store it in a jar. When ever needed rinse the dal and use. This helps to make the khichdi more aromatic. This is an optional step which you can follow if you have enough time.
2. Wash rice and dal in a pot either separately or together. Soak them until the onions and tomatoes are chopped. Chop onion, tomato, green chili and grate ginger. You can also add more veggies like carrot, potatoes, peas & beans. Set these aside.
3. Heat a pan with ghee.
4. When the ghee melts, add jeera and bay leaf (optional). Saute on a low heat until aromatic. Then add hing.
5. Next add ginger and saute for a minute.
6. Add onions and green chili. Saute well until golden. Skip chili of making for kids.
7. Then transfer tomatoes, turmeric and salt.
8. Saute until tomatoes turn mushy. You can also use carrots and french beans and saute them for 2 to 3 mins.
How to make khichdi
9. Drain the daal completely and add it here. Fry for 3 to 4 mins. Skip frying if you are using roasted dal.
10. Then add the drained rice. You can also add rice and dal together and saute for another 2 mins.
11. Pour water. Mix well and taste the water. It has to be slightly salty. If needed add more.
12. On a medium flame I pressure cooked for 4 whistles to get a soup consistency. To get grainy consistency, 2 whistles would be enough.
13. When the pressure goes down, stir well.
Transfer to a serving bowl and add a tsp of ghee. Serve khichdi with pickle & papad.
Leah says
Hello ,
What if I dont want a runnie consistancy. Do I just cut the water and pressure cook for 2 whistles or 1 ?
swasthi says
Hi,
For mushy khichdi cut down the water to 3 cups and cook for 2 whistles.
For grainy khichdi (separate grains) cut down to 2 cups water and cook for 1 whistle. Cook on a medium flame.
Shravika Naoghare says
Turned out very good in a normal pot
swasthi says
Glad it turned out good.
Thank you!
madhan says
I never missed an recipe really it’s simple but tastes a good any one can prepare the dish with the help of Ur recipe content thanks a lot mam
swasthi says
You are welcome Madhan
Glad the recipes are helpful.
thank you so much!
Willver goldi says
Hi swasthi, It’s a delicious recipe I have ever gone through….even my kids love the khichdi. They says Papa it’s tasty from the normal khichdi. I have added added few ingredients like cauliflower,whole garam masala spices & a 1/2 cup of curd. Serve with ghee,papad/frymes,mango pickle and fried aloo chokha..plz update me with the non-veg recipe too.
Thank you
swasthi says
Hi Willver Goldi,
Wow! Lovely meal! Glad your kids loved this khichdi. You can find all the non-veg recipes here.
Mi Tu says
I just wanted to say we are very much thankful to you for your recipes. I tried Indian cooking the first time with your butter paneer last month and it came out really great. Since then I have been trying a lot of your recipes. Indian cuisine is amazingly delicious. We spent 5 months in Singapore eating Indian food almost every day and now that we are back to the US we just cannot do without your blog and delicious recipes.
Last night I made this khichdi and served with pickled vegetables. Your recipes came as a life saver for us. Next try will be homemade paneer and rice kheer. Thank you!
swasthi says
Hi Mi Tu,
You are most welcome. I am speechless and very glad to know you have been enjoying the recipes from here. Thank you so much. Hope you enjoy more recipes.
🙂
Dr. Thara says
Hi Swasthi, I am very much thankful for your recipes be it south indian/north indian dishes. I follow your recipes as they are very easy and takes minimum time to prepare. My kids love my cooking because of your recipes. Thank you for sharing your recipes with everyone. In fact I dont like cooking much but now I need to cook myself as my kids doesnt agree to hire a cook as they are used to your recipes. Thank you once again for making cooking easier.
swasthi says
Hello Dr.Thara,
You are most welcome. Thank you so much for the comment. Very happy to know the recipes have been useful. Much thanks to your kids for preferring the foods made from here.
Have a lovely week ahead!
🙂
Kumud says
Thank you for the khichdi recipe. Turns out so yummy each time. Would you add pumpkin & broccoli to the khichdi?
swasthi says
Welcome Kumud,
Glad you like it. No I wouldn’t add broccoli but yes golden pumpkin goes well. We usually add it to dal and sambar. We love the dal pumkin combo not sure if you would like. You can give a try.
Neha says
Thank you so much. I am learning how to cook for myself and my sister. The whistle is blowing and I am unable to contain my happiness. I feel confident on being able to cook on my own. Thank you so much.
swasthi says
Hello Neha,
You are most welcome. So happy to know you could make khichdi on your own. Thank you so much for sharing your joy!
Have a great day!
🙂
Mahendra Oza says
Your recipie is really amazing, complete for a novice who is say cooking first time. Your Sanskrit reference is excellent with your explanation of why Khichadi is good for babies & people recovering from illness. I will forward your recipies to my lovedones. Thank you.
swasthi says
You are welcome. Glad you liked the post. Thanks a lot for sharing this.
Adithya D says
Thank you for the recipe. As a complete beginner to cooking, this was good one to try and so soul satisfying. 🙂
swasthi says
Welcome Adithya,
Thank you. Glad you liked the khichdi.
Vidya says
Swathi,
You are phenomenal ! Whenevr i need to find a recipe,i just open your website and search for it
Thank you sharing all recipes with so much perfection and yes love 🙂
Thank u once again !
swasthi says
Hi Vidya,
You are welcome. Thank you so much for following the blog. So happy to read your comment. Thanks again
🙂
Prajakti says
I absolutely love your recipes!! Very well detailed and good pictures! This khichdi recipe is awesome as well! Thank you so much!
swasthi says
Hi Prajakti,
You are welcome. Thanks much for trying the recipes. So glad you love them!
🙂
Tanya says
Hi swasthi,
Love your recipes and have been cooking a lot from here. They turn out awesome. I did bookmark a steel cut oats khichdi on your blog. I made it a few times and had loved it. I wanted to make it again but the bookmark opens up with this khichdi recipe. Please can you guide me to that post or let me know if i substitute steel cut oats for rice how Long do I set the timer in instapot. I prefer not too porridge like but with a texture. How much water do I use? TIA
swasthi says
Hi Tanya,
You are welcome. Yes the steel cut oats recipe is no longer available & will be back soon. You can use the above khichdi recipe with the same quantity of water, just replace rice with oats. I usually cook in the porridge mode with default setting of 20 mins. For a not too porridge like khichdi you can just pressure cook for 10 mins and wait for the pressure to release naturally. You can also reduce the water to 3 cups. Hope this helps.
Kanishtika says
Yummy kichdi. Every one including my little one liked it a lot. Thanks for posting a yummy kichdi recipe
swasthi says
Welcome Kanishtika
Glad to know your little one too liked it.
Sree says
Hi
I just luv ur recipes….infact i check ur recipes for my daily cooking too apart frm special dishes…and every dish comes out very yummy…thank u so much😊😍
swasthi says
Hi Sree
You are welcome. Thank you so much for following the blog.
🙂
friza says
Ur recipe of khichdi is perfect….so yummy….😋😋
swasthi says
Hi Friza
Thank you very much
Aarthi Shakthi says
I tried this today came out very well thanks for sharing this recipe
swasthi says
Thanks Aarthi
Abilash Abraham S says
My name is Abilash Abraham S. I wholeheartedly thank you for shouldering me in making of varieties of dishes for my congregation in the Church. They like it and I prefer you methods. God bless you.
swasthi says
Hello Abilash,
You are welcome. Very happy to know the recipes were useful. Thanks a ton for the wishes.
Michelle Nazareth says
Good
Chris says
I made this in the stant pot. I followed the recipe with the exception of adding a fresh green cubanelle mild pepper and a 1 tablespoon of hot hatch chili diced in place of the chili, 1/4 t of tumeric, and a small pinch of hing. I cooked it on high pressure for 10 min and allowed it to release naturally for minutes. The moong dal and tbe rice was soft, but the dish still had a nice texture to it without being too mushy. Excellent flavor.
swasthi says
Hi Chris,
Glad to know khichdi turned out good.
Thanks for sharing the insta pot timings. I am yet to make it in a insta pot.
🙂
Susan says
HI Swashi
I don’t have a pressure cooker – do I need to alter the quantities of water if I cook this in a pot on the hob or will it work with these quantites, and just take a little longer to cook?
Kind regards
Susan
swasthi says
Hi Susan,
You can just cook it in a pot. Initially just pour the same amount of water I mentioned in the recipe. You can add more as needed later when the water is absorbed. After every addition make sure you cook until the khichdi begins to bubble well. Hope this helps.