Whenever it rains outside, I crave some vegetable khichuri and some of my favorite bhortas. On a rainy day or cold winter night, Vegetable Khichuri or Shobji Khichuri is a name of happiness for Bengalis! Bengalis all around the country seek Khichuri while it rains outside and gloomy clouds cover the area. People love rain from their balconies and prefer khichuri over simple rice or bread. When a Bengali returns home soaked from the rain, nothing beats a steaming dish of Khichuri.
However, though people mostly prefer it on rainy days, I consider it the best comfort dish for any day. A plate of boiling hot vegetable khichuri along with an omelet – enough to give an instant boost to my mode!
What exactly Khichuri is?
Khichuri is a delicious meal prepared with rice and a wide variety of lentils. The basic ingredients in any khichuri are rice and lentils. The recipe is comparable to biriyani, a famous meal worldwide. Unlike biriyani, vegetable khichuri does not feature any meat such as mutton, beef, or chicken. However, even though meat is not utilized in the preparation, you can serve any sort of meat meal with this khichuri.
Vegetable Khichuri or Shobji Khichuri is a classic Bangladeshi dish. Can a simple dish of rice and lentils soothe a troubled soul? Yes, foods like khichuri can! It’s a food that’s pretty basic in origin yet incredibly nutritious and pleasant. The golden pot of Khichuri, wherein the rice and lentils get cooked until they lose some of their unique characteristics and become one- is the ultimate comfort meal for you.
If you are a vegan, you may easily replace khichuri for chicken soup. When we are extremely ill, the healthiest food to eat is plain Khichuri, which is usually made with rice and moong or masoor dal. Khichuri is an easily-chewable and digestible dish. Also, Khichuri is gluten-free! Khichuri is high in nutritional value as well. As a result, it is an ideal lunch for children and the elderly. When our babies are 6-9 months old, it is one of the first foods we offer them.
Though this dish is a great meal on its own, we prefer to pair it with alu bhorta, chingri bhorta, eggplant fry (begun bhaja), egg fry or hilsa fry, chicken, or beef bhuna. This is a filling comfort dish made out of rice, lentils, and veggies. Khichuri can be prepared in a variety of ways. To keep things simple, I only used a few spices. I hope you enjoy this dish with your family and friends. Lentil and Khichuri consistency are determined by personal preference, therefore feel free to use more or less lentils and water if you prefer. Some of us prefer to use 3-5 different varieties of lentils to create a distinct flavor. If you prefer to use roasted moong dal, mashkolai dal, or split peas, soak them for at least an hour before cooking.
Health Advantages of Vegetable Khichuri
It provides various health advantages since it is a vital component of a simple, healthy, and nutritious diet. Here are a few of them:
- Aids in the Weight Loss Process
- Very good for upset stomach and diarrhea
- Metabolism stimulant
- Anti-Inflammatory
- The most complete source of macronutrients
- Beneficial for diabetics
- Beneficial for cardiac issues
- Natural detoxifier
On a rainy day, all we want to do is curl up under a blanket and forget about all our work, right!? With a warm bowl of your favorite comfort meal, you can boost this classic rainy day experience further! For those rainy days and nights, try cooking this nutritious veggie Khichuri!
How to make vegetable khichuri at home?
Here’s how you can make vegetable khichurii:
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice (basmati or kalijeera or chinigura rice)
- 1/2 cup red lentils (yellow lentils should be fine too)
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 4 green chillis whole
- 1/2 cup cooking oil vegetable oil
- 3 cup water
- 1 tbsp ghee (butter ghee)
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp ground red chili powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 3 cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
- 1/2 cup potato
- 1/2 cup cauliflower
- 1/4 cup peas
- 1/4 cup carrots
- 1/4 cup green beans
- 1/4 cup corn
- 1/4 cup green papaya
Instructions
- Rinse rice and lentils together and drain water
- Peel and make small cubes of the potato, carrot, green papaya. Make small pieces of cauliflower and green beans. (I used 1 cup of pre-cut frozen mixed vegetables for carrot, green beans, corn and peas
- In a saucepan add 3 tablespoons of oil. Keep the heat in medium high heat. When the oil warms up, add the potato and green papaya first and fry them for 2-3 minutes. Then add the rest of the vegetables and fry for 2-3 minutes. Take out the vegetables.
- In the saucepan, heat the rest of the oil. Put in cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. When the cumin seeds pop, add the onion and fry till light brown. Add the ginger and garlic paste. Add 2 tablespoons of water so that the spices don’t burn. Add red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt.
- Add the rice and lentils and fry them for 4-5 minutes. Add the fried vegetables and fry for 2 minutes. Add water, stir, cover and leave it in medium high heat for 15 minutes or until the water has evaporated. Slightly stir and add whole green chilis, cilantro leaves and ghee.
- Adding ghee at the end helps to keep the smell of the ghee in the khichuri. Mix everything. In low heat leave the khichuri for 5 minutes. Stir and stop the flame.
- Serve at lunch or dinner!
