Bengali Arhar Dal er Khichuri / Bengali Toor Dal Khichdi

Another gem from the cookbook of Prajnyasundari Devi. This book has a pretty large section dedicated towards Khichdi / khichuri only and there you will find all kinds of khichuri. From Malai Khichuri to bhuni to some odd names like Bakla Khichuri, Ogla Khichuri...and there is Til er Khichuri i.e. sesame seeds khichdi and so on. Going through those pages I found this recipe of Toor Dal khichdi or Arhar Dal er Khichuri and the best part is that it’s pure vegetarian.

My husband is not that fond of Toor Dal so I added the split moong and red lentils to change the taste a bit. The recipe also calls for yogurt to make the curry paste in the initial stage of cooking all the spices. With the onset of the heavy rains these days...I found this khichdi immensely satisfying and different. The addition of three kinds of dal has given the khichuri a complex yet a very rich flavour and in addition to that, the fluffy almost pulao like texture almost gives the recipe a camouflage of lentil pulao. Try this recipe for yourself and do no be a miser in adding ghee...because without ghee khichuris are just lentils and rice, you need to add that understand?

Toor Dal Khichdi / Arhar Dal er Khichuri

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

½ cup of toor dal / arhar dal

¼ cup of red lentils / masoor dal / musurir dal

¼ cup of split moong dal / yellow lentils

1 cup of fine Basmati rice

2 tomatoes – paste

1 inch ginger – paste

2 medium potatoes – peeled and halved

1 and ½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp coriander seeds

1 medium cinnamon stick

3 cloves

3 green cardamoms

2 medium bay leaves

A few fresh coriander leaves – chopped

2 tbsp ghee

2 tbsp oil

Salt

Method:

Wash and the rinse all the lentils until clear water runs out. Keep the lentils in a bowl and fill it with clear water. Soak the lentils in water for about 30 minutes.

Wash and rinse the rice until clear water runs. Drain the rice and keep them aside.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and shallow fry the halved potatoes until they are golden from the outside. Take them out of the kadai and keep aside.

Add the ghee to the oil and let it heat up a little bit.

Add the cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, cloves and bay leaves to the ghee and sauté for some seconds or until the ghee becomes aromatic.

Add the tomatoes and sprinkle some salt over them.

Cook the tomatoes until they become really pulpy and you see the oil separating from them.

Add the ginger paste to the tomatoes and mix them well.

Pour a little water so that the tomatoes don’t burn and add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder to them.

Mix and cook the spices for a minute or so.

Add the dal and rice into cooker and fry them for 2 minutes or until you start to get a husky sound that the grains will make while being stirred against the surface of the cooker.

Add just 4 cups of water; the fried kept aside potatoes and salt to taste. Stir to mix and close the lid.

Cook the lentils and rice until the cooker blows just 2 whistles.

Wait until the pressure settles down and then open the lid.

Serve hot with melted ghee drizzled over them garnished with some chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy with chutney or pickle and papar of your choice.