Oats Khichdi

Oats is such a healthy option for breakfast or a meal. A few months ago when I vowed to loose my weight I completely gave up rice and took oats as my meal. It worked and I lost almost 5kg weight in just a few months. I saw everyone ate oats with milk. But I hated that gooey stuff. So, every now and then I used to experiment with oats with the intention of making it a little spicy and tasty. That was the time I made this Oats Khichdi.

Here I have taken a different method for making the oats khichdi. Instead of cooking the dal and oats together, I have used to dal water to cook the oats. The water of the dal is very nutritious and also it is low in fat. And since the oats is being cooked in the dal water it has all the flavors of the dal, making it delicious and aromatic like khichdi.




Oats Khichdi
Serve 1

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 2-3 tbsp of masoor dal / mung dal
• 1/4 onion - sliced
• 1 carrot - chopped
• 1/4 cup green peas
• some florets of broccoli / cauliflower (optional)
•  little shredded Brussels sprouts / cabbage(optional)
• 1/4 tsp ginger - grated
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 7-8 curry leaves
• 2 dry red chilies
• 1 tsp + 1tsp oil
• 2 cups of water to cook the oats
• salt

Method:

• In a sauce pan heat 1 tsp oil and add the cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle add the dry red chilies and ginger.
• When the chilies start to splutter add the dal, 2 cups of water, turmeric powder and dal. Give it a stir and put cover to cook it. Let it simmer for 15 minutes, allowing the dal to cook.
• When the dal is cooked let it come to cool down a bit and strain the water to separate the seeds out of it. Keep the dal water aside.
• In a separate pan dry roast the oats until it starts to release its aroma. Do not brown them, and after dry roasting shift them to a bowl.
• In the same pan heat the rest of the oil and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• When they start to splutter add the onions and sauté until they become translucent.
• After that add the vegetables and let them cook for some minutes.
• When the vegetables start to tender add the already roasted oats.
• Mix everything properly and add the water of the cooked dal.
• Simmer for some 7-10 minutes, letting the oats to cook. We are not adding any salt because the dal water already contains salt in it.
• When the entire mixture has reached a mushy kind of state put off the flame and serve hot with some fresh coriander leaves on top.