Kitchari (Spiced Mung Bean with Delfo Rice)
Kitchari (also called khichdi or khichri) is a one-pot dish of Southeast Asian origin usually made with split mung beans, rice, and spices. You can find different variations of this dish across the Indian subcontinent. It is a simple meal that is meant to be nourishing and easy for the body to digest. That’s why kitchari is often served to babies or cooked when someone is feeling ill. It’s also comfort food for many people. All of this was enough for us to be convinced to prepare our own version of this ancient recipe.
Everything you need to cook your epic and scrumptious meal.
Prep and cooking times
- Preparation: 15 min
- Cooking: 40 min
- Total: 55 min
Nutritional value per serving
Kitchenware
#kitchari
#gluten-free
#mung-beans
#brown-rice
#anglo-indian
What comes with your Venn box
Not included in the kit.
Kitchenware
Preparation, step by step
1
Wash the vegetables. Separate the little florets of cauliflower from the stem. Clean and shred the swiss chard leaves and set them on a side in a bowl. Cut the carrot in half lengthwise and dice them into half moons. Do the same with the cauliflower stem.
Place the mung beans and rice in a colander and rinse them under running cold water. Do so a few times until the water is running clean.
2
Grab a medium size pot and heat up 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Finely chop ginger and add it to the pot along with turmeric, coriander seeds, cumin powder and cardamom powder. Cook on medium heat and let the spices cook for around 1 minute in order to release the fragrances.
3
Add the carrots and cauliflower stem to the pot. Fry for around 2 minutes. Next add in the rinsed beans and rice alongside with 4 cups of water, a pinch of salt and crushed vegetable stock. Bring everything to boil, cover with a matching lid and lower the heat to a simmer. Let everything simmer for around 35-40 minutes. This is the base of our Kitchari.
4
Bring some water to boil. Reserve 100 ml aside. We will use that to make the coconut milk. Grab a small pot and place cauliflower florets in it, cover them with boiling water so that the water is twice the level of the florets at the bottom. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Let it cook for 4 minutes. Grab the colander and place swiss chard in it. After the 4 minutes are up, pour the contents of the pot (cauliflower florets and hot water) over the colander with the swiss chard. We do this in order to quickly blanch the greens. Set the cauliflower with blanched swiss chard aside in a bowl.
5
Prepare coconut milk in a bowl by mixing the coconut milk powder and 100 ml of reserved water from the previous step. Open the pot with kitchari and add in the coconut milk, stir it gently in.
6
Let's plate our dish. Grab a deep plate and scoop in the Kitchari. Garnish with blanched swiss chard and cauliflower over the top and decorate with coriander microgreens. Enjoy!