Moong khichadi (serves 2)

What you need

Rice - 1 cup
Moong dal - 1/2 cup
oil - 2 tablespoons
mustard seeds-Jeera-turmeric-Chilli powder-hing
salt to taste

What to do

1.Wash rice and moong dal together
2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustards seeds and jeera. When they splutter, add hing and turmeric.
3. Add the washed rice and dal mixture and saute well on medium heat
4. After about 5-8 min, transfer the contents to a vessel you can keep in the pressure cooker
5. Add 4 cups of water, salt to taste, red chilli powder. cover and put in a pressure cooker.
6. Let the cooker whistle 4-5 times

How to serve

After the cooker is out of steam :) ... remove the khichadi from cooker , serve with some ghee (clarified butter), pickle and yogurt. Papad goes well too.

Vanessa special tips
1. DO not underestimate the importance of step 3- saute on medium flame. This is what makes khhichadi special
2. Add raw baby onions (or 4 pieces of a large onion) to it in step 5 along with the water. Heavenly.
3. Goda masala (roasted and ground coriander seeds, white sesame, some cloves) is a great addition to this recipe.
4. unlike Pulav/ biryani, khichadi tastes good when its really soft and mushy. Thats the reason we add more than double water and cook for longer than normal rice. Also, works better when made in a vessel in a cooker rather than the base of a cooker.
(I also go the extra step of smashing it up a little in the plate and then adding the ghee.)
5. Achar (pickle) is a MUST