Chana Dal Pilaf/ Khichadi; Winner Of Only Cooking From Royal Kitchen

Hi All!

There are always days when you are not in a mood to cook an elaborate meal and what one is looking forward, is to have a one pot meal which is healthy and filling. I was also in such a mood today. For an unknown reason my right leg muscle has got pulled and I am not able to walk properly, so wanted to cook something very quick without straining the leg. S, was also going to come home for lunch as he has to travel on work for a few days, so I had to cook, there was no option of escaping..

I postponed cooking as much as possible and then finally I pushed myself into the kitchen a little before the noon. I was still undecided. S, had told me that he would eat khichadi but I was in no mood to eat the regular moong dal khichadi. I wanted to eat something different and yet simple…

I rummaged through my containers to see if anything excited me.. in this process I spent another 15mins and my leg started talking to me. I had to think fast and cook quickly too..Finally I landed myself on the chana dal (Bengal Gram) and decided to make a rice preparation with it which could be called a khichadi or a pilaf. I guess I had read this recipe somewhere while surfing cookbooks at landmark and the recipe got imprinted in my brain for it’s simplicity. I do not remember whether the preparation was a pilaf or khichadi but for me the thought of cooking Pilaf satisfied me..I was not going to have khichadi. What  I was cooking  was a kind of  khichadi made pilaf style..basically I was cooking with rice and lentils but the taste and texture had to be of the pilaf.

I did not add any turmeric to my preparation as I wanted the yellow grains of the Bengal Gram to shine through the white grains of the rice. I also added very less spices and concentrated more on the aroma and flavors. I wanted it to have subtle taste which would just play lightly on my palate and to my delight I achieved it too..the khichadi/pilaf was an unusual combination for me with light flavors and a beautiful aroma, I loved the preparation to the core and so did S..I know, I’ve run into one jackpot recipe which is also a one pot meal ..it’s a simple preparation which most of the people would like to eat and cook!!

I served it with a quickly made, tomato cucumber raita and jackfruit pickle.

Chana Dal Pilaf/ Khichadi

      Serves:3

   Soaking Time: 1hour

Preparation Time: 10mins

     Cooking Time: 15mins

Ingredients

1cup Bengal gram (soak for an hour)

1cup rice (soak for half an hour), I used small grain rice

5-6pepper corns (add more if you like spicy)

2-3cloves

a small pinch of asafetida mixed with water

about 4 to 5cups of water ( as per your rice quality)

salt to taste

For Tempering

1-2bay leaves

2tbsp oil

2tbsp ghee/ clarified butter

one onion sliced

1/2tsp cumin

Method

Soak the rice and dal for the mentioned time. Do not add excess water for soaking, it should just enough to dip the lentil and rice.

In a pan heat oil and ghee (one can use only ghee or only oil, choice is yours).

Add the cumin and let it splutter.

Add the bay leaf.

Tip in the onions.

Crush the pepper and cloves together and add to the onions, mix.

Add salt to taste, mix.

Once the onions are cooked, add the rice and lentil and saute for a few minutes. Also add the asafetida mixed in water.

Add boiling water the rice-lentil mix. Cook covered till done. (Give quick stirs while cooking). Ensure, that you have not added excess water unless you prefer your rice mushy..

Serve hot with raita and pickle. If you, like you can also add a little ghee on the top of the pilaf.

Coming to the winner of ‘Only’ Cooking from the Royal Kitchens, out of the 58 Indian entries sent to Divya, I’ve picked the winner. I’ve followed my principle of picking a winner who is also a follower of my blog Publically and not picked from those who do not follow my blog publically.

The random number that I got who is also a follower of my space is no.26, which was a post on Khajur pak posted by Sanoli Ghosh. Congrats Sanoli, you will receive a book on Punjabi Subzis from www.tarladalal.com, who are the sponsors of the event giveaway. Please mail me your address with a landmark, pin code and also your landline/cell number to cookingoodfood@gmail.com within two days. In case Sanoli is not able to claim her win, I’ll pick another winner after two days.

I hope you enjoy reading my posts, your feedback is always awaited!!! Will meet you all in my next post, till then see you..