12 November 2009

Palak Khichdi / Spinach Khichdi Recipe

This is another recipe from Geeta Perima of the instant sambar powder recipe fame. A lot of you wrote in saying you tried it and loved it for its simplicity. This is another nice dish that she had made us for dinner on the night we landed. Paired with some mildly sweet Gujarati Khadi and potato chips, this made for an amazing dinner.


You'll need some good quality halved green gram and normal rice that you use every day. I bought this green dal from Bombay and it was so fresh and shiny and dirt-free!

You'll also need three kinds of greens for the recipe:

1. Green spinach or palak
2. Fresh coriander leaves/cilantro or kothmeer/kothamalli/malliyila
3. Mint leaves/pudina.

I got all three bunches fresh from Little India, especially to make this dish myself :)

You will also need to grind up some stuff. This is the essence of the recipe so, read on.

Palak Khichdi Recipe
Source: Geetha Perima
Serves: 2 to 3

What I Used:

2 cups rice
1 cup halved green dal (always use 2:1 ratio for rice:dal)
1 bunch green spinach, chopped fine
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp jeera/cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala or goda masala
1 tsp ghee (optional)
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

To grind:

1 cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves
2 green chillies, or to taste
A 1" piece of ginger
4 cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes
5-6 pearl onions/shallots

How I Made It:

1. Wash and soak the dal and rice together for 30 mins.

2. Grind all the ingredients under the 'to grind' list adding no water.

3. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker pan and add the jeera. When it splutters, add the chopped onion. Fry until golden brown. Then add the chopped spinach and stir until soft and wilted.

4. To this, add the ground paste and mix well with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and garam masala. Let it cook for a min.

5. Now add the soaked rice and dal. Add 4 cups water. Cook for 4-5 whistles in the pressure cooker. If you are using a normal pan, make sure you cook covered until the rice and dal is cooked thoroughly.

6. While hot, mix in 1 tsp ghee and serve.
Best served with Gujarati Khadi. I had made some but the pictures turned out really (really really) bad so will post the next time I make it.

This hot dish of palak khichdi goes to MLLA 17 hosted by Sra, a brainchild of Susan. Where would we be without legumes, eh? :)

Oh and also, the winner of the Bath and Body Works Body Lotion has been picked. In fact, I knew last Sunday itself but forgot to announce, shame on me! Click here to find out.

42 Comments:

Hb said...

I wanted to be the 1st one to comment.What craziness :P I didn't go through the recipe yet.Will say about the recipe in a while, picture looks neat :)

Nags said...

Hahaha you're crazy HB! :)

Hb said...

Ok now, imagine u serve with raita, wont it be a complete meal?Rice,dal,curry and curd, whoa!Brilliant idea I say.

Sonia said...

Slurrrppp! What a coincidence! For dinner, I have made Khichadi too..with onion-potato bhaji & Bhakari. Will try your version too. :)

sra said...

Great, I've never heard of a palak khichdi! I also like the pic of the veggies. Thanks a lot for the entry!

DEESHA said...

wow, I make palak khichdi too but this version sounds eally good, cuz I have never tried adding mint leaves in khichdi ...

Pari said...

This sounds so flavorful Nags. Beautiful clicks.

Sushma Mallya said...

Lovely clicks as always nags...a new dish, never tried this yummy and a healthy khichdi before...surely must be very nice...

jayasri said...

Lovely clicks needless to say as always, I learnt this kind of khichdi from my sis who lives pune, omitting all the greens in it, so, now I know a new way of doing this, thanx for the recipe, I must tell my sis about this, as she often makes this, they would this versatile combination.

Tina said...

Sounds great...

Cardamom said...

this is my favorite.....my mom used to make this for me, and you brought back some fond memories of her......love it!

Sumi said...

The recipe sounds very tempting.Never tried kichadi before, well except Bisibellabath(if u can call that kichadi).Surely going to try this one.

Sunshinemom said...

I freak out on this one! The picture of the greens is lovely:)

RAKS KITCHEN said...

Absolutely new to me and sounds very different with all those greens!

A_and_N said...

I love the idea. One pot. Over. :)

Green gram dal- am not sure I have any, but will surely get some!

SJ said...

Post Gujarathi Kadhi. And don't tell A&N.

Shri said...

Yummo!One pot healthy and a nutritious meal!Love it!

The Cooking Photographer said...

Nags I had to subscribe to your blog! I love all the fresh beautiful food. Now they'll be sent to me email!

What a great idea having that box by your comments.

Laura

Veggie Belly said...

What a nutritious yet comforting dish! I like the idea of grinding some of the ingredients. The mint is a unique addition indeed.

Ann said...

Wow.. awesome pics.. and very interesting recipe!

Anupama said...

Fabulous click and a very nice dish... a complete meal all in one dish I would say :-)

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

lovely pix again and lovely post!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

as I read the ingredients, my mouth waters. i love that instant sambar. have made it so many times!

Kitchen Flavours said...

Wow..that's an yummylicious recipe...never tried kichdi with green dal...love to try this greeny version...

RV said...

Yet another rare recipe from you which I have never heard before :) Thanks for sharing.

Shobana senthilkumar said...

Sounds new to me...i sure the taste is differnt by using three differnt greens....its tempting:)

Gita said...

Awesome dish...I have bookmarked this to try it on later...thanks :)

Divya Vikram said...

I love kichdis for the fact that it is simple and easy to make. This looks fresh and flavorful!

The Wandering Minstrel said...

killer! will try :)

my kitchen said...

Palak khichdi sounds good,simple & delicious

Soma said...

This is not the plain old khichdi at all. This is a designer khichdi or a pulav khichdi ;-) love it and i have never used the green dal to make khichdi.

Aparna said...

Looks quite good. I wouldn't (nor my daughter who doesn't like the stuff) have known there was spinach in this. :)

I can see I have missed a lot here, again!

Aparna said...

Looks quite good. I wouldn't (nor my daughter who doesn't like the stuff) have known there was spinach in this. :)

I can see I have missed a lot here, again!

RV said...

Yet another rare recipe from you which I have never heard before :) Thanks for sharing.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

as I read the ingredients, my mouth waters. i love that instant sambar. have made it so many times!

Anupama said...

Fabulous click and a very nice dish... a complete meal all in one dish I would say :-)

Shri said...

Yummo!One pot healthy and a nutritious meal!Love it!

RAKS KITCHEN said...

Absolutely new to me and sounds very different with all those greens!

Cardamom said...

this is my favorite.....my mom used to make this for me, and you brought back some fond memories of her......love it!

Pari said...

This sounds so flavorful Nags. Beautiful clicks.

Hb said...

Ok now, imagine u serve with raita, wont it be a complete meal?Rice,dal,curry and curd, whoa!Brilliant idea I say.

Nags said...

Hahaha you're crazy HB! :)

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. I appreciate your thoughts and points of view.

All spam and mean comments will be deleted promptly.