Pack a healthy lunch the Mix & Match Kichdi Way!

I take kichdi for lunch every day - and there's so many varieties of it, I haven't yet run out of combinations! If you can get your kids to eat this, you don't have to worry about them not getting enough nutrition anymore :)

Ingredients

The basic concept is this:

• Half glass rice
• Half glass broken wheat (you get this in packets in grocery shops). Or millets - you get millets so easily these days.
• One dal/Soya Chunks/Frozen peas/Frozen corn (Soya is very good if you are feeling tired - it gives instant energy)
• One Vegetable
• And/or one Green Leafy Vegetable

So it's as healthy as it can get, and it's all cooked in one go in a cooker! And you can mix and match with all the vegetables/dals you like - just see if you can sneak in some green leaves also, to complete the nutrition.

I usually have this with pickle or some chutney, so the kichdi by itself is bland - though you can always try out various kinds of seasoning to change that.

Procedure

The measurements in here should give you enough kichdi for 2 people, for a meal. So I just cook once in 2 days for my lunch box, I just vary the pickle/chutney to change the taste.

Heat a pressure cooker (the small one in which you cook directly) and add a little oil and add a seasoning of your choice. Jeera is a good option. Also Panch Phoren, described earlier in this blog.

Add a split green chilly and/or some crushed garlic, which is optional. Or add a chopped tomato and fry a bit. If you have the time, fry a chopped onion and then the green chilly and then the tomato. I normally do only the chilly and tomato.

Now add whatever chopped vegetables/green leafy vegetables you want. You can add sabbajgi (dill - those spiky needle-like leaves very high in iron), drumstick leaves/methi leaves/spinach. Just stir-fry for a few seconds.

Vegetables - carrot/potato/cauliflower are the most obvious, you could try others too.

Then add the washed rice - half a glass, or even a little less than that.
Dal - half glass. You can use Tuvar dal/Moong Dal/Soaked Green gram/any other soaked dal you like.
Or/and some frozen peas/corn, or soya chunks which you have already soaked in boiling water with salt, and drained and washed.
Half glass broken wheat

Add 3.5 glasses of water to this - this measurement leaves it just the correct consistency without making it dry or watery.

Add salt to the water and taste - add half a teaspoon and then adjust. It is very important to add the salt - this makes sure the kichdi does not get watery.

Put lid on cooker, and cook for 2 whistles.

Eat this with pickles/chutney/leftover sabji from previous night's dinner :)
Non-vegetarians can add some leftovers from their chicken/meat/prawn/fish dishes in the end, after the kichdi is cooked.

You can also crush some garlic and mix in the end - you get the full medicinal benefits of garlic if it is taken raw, so this will be almost raw, but slightly cooked because of the heat.

To make this more like a biriyani, you can use some ginger-garlic paste along with the seasoning, and add some cloves/cinnamon etc. Or of course, some ghee at the end.

Basically, the whole point is that you can mix and match, just make sure you have the basic concept in place :)

My Dosa Recipe

I am told that I make very crispy light dosas, so here is the secret :)  Probably this is the only thing I make really well! This is great for diabetics/is more nutritious if you use only one portion of rice, and the other two portions are jowar and ragi or any other millet. You can also add a bit of flaxseeds or soya dal in this, very high sources of protein, among other things.

Ingredients

1. Half cup red rice [the one with the husk is great, if not the usual red rice you get in stores]
2. Half cup ragi or any other millet
3. Half cup jowar, or boiled rice, if you don't have it [MK Ahmed has jowar, in the Millets section]
4. Half a cup urad dal
5. A big spoon of methi seeds
6. Some Paper Avalakki (Poha) or Cooked rice (Poha is to make the dosa crisper, rice makes it softer)
7. Soya seeds or Flax seeds (a teaspoonful) - make sure you soak this separately, in a different vessel. Before adding it to the grinder with the rest, wash in fresh water.  These are optional, but are highly nutritious, great protein sources. If you add too much, the dosa becomes very heavy.
8. Alfalfa seeds, half a teaspoon (optional)- this is high in proteins, calcium, and various vitamins.

Procedure

1. Soak rice-millets-jowar and the urad dal, and the methi seeds overnight, in the same vessel.
2. If you are using flax seeds or soya, soak separately.
3. The next day morning, grind in a good grinder, which makes it real smooth. The 2-kilo tabletop grinder is a great investment. It will keep grinding, you can continue with your other work, just occasionally check if it needs water.
4. While grinding, add a few handfuls of poha or cooked rice depending on whether you want it crisp of soft.
5. Now keep the dosa batter for fermenting in a wide-mouthed vessel, leaving some space at the top for the batter to rise - this will take a whole day (8 hours) in winter, and half a day in summer.
6. Cover this vessel with a thin cloth - not with a lid, it needs to breathe.
7. I always keep this batter vessel on top of the fridge stabilizer - so it is at a constant warm temperature and so ferments well :)
8. Once the batter has risen, keep in fridge if you are not making dosas immediately.
9. When making the dosa, add salt and extra water as required. Spread these real thin and add ghee for better taste. You can also add grated carrot or finely chopped palak or other leaves on the dosa while it is cooking, to add variety and nutrition.
10. Serve hot with chutney and/or sambar.

If you still have batter left the next day, you can make crispy soft Paddu with it - it's a hit always!