Rava Khichdi with Tomatoes!

The weather is awesome in Hyderabad these days. Its super pleasant and rains quite bit. It does disrupt the lives a bit, but with the summer we’ve had, I bet no one is complaining about the rains this year! :-)

Rains always make me crave comfort food. Food that is easy to make, and food that reminds me of something warm and makes me feel fuzzy. :-) As a true foodie, I have a huge list of comfort food, stuff that makes me feel good when I am down or lazy or when it rains.

Top of this list is Khichdi for me. Khichdi is a versatile dish and its preparation and ingredients change with the place you eat it in. Every house has its own Khichdi recipe, and am on a mission – To learn as many different varieties of Khichdi as possible ! And why not? Its warm, its healthy, its packed with veggies if you like and its ultimate comfort food.

Check out my other Khichdi recipes here & here.

Here’s one such preparation I came up with after reading a recipe in the GoodFood [July 2012] magazine. I changed the main ingredient but used the method of cooking this Khichdi to make mine. The original recipe uses Quinoa. I used a mix of red + brown wheat rava (cracked wheat) for this recipe. If you do not have these, you could cook this with cracked wheat also. I also decided to make my own tomato puree , by microwaving the tomatoes instead of going for ready-made store bought one.

The result is a very light, healthy and warm Khichdi , perfect for a wet weather day like this, ready in a jiffy!

Rava Khichdi cooked in Tomato puree

Serves – 2
Preparation time – 30 min, excluding the time taken to soak the lentils
Level – Easy

Ingredients
Cracked Wheat – 1/2 C
Moong Dal [Yellow Lentils] – 1/2 C, soaked for atleast 30 min
Mustard Oil – 1 Tbsp
Onions – 1 , medium sized, finely chopped
Garlic cloves – 4, finely chopped
Peppercorns – 1 Tsp
Salt – To taste
Tomatoes – 3 , medium sized, diced in large pieces, or 1/2 C of Tomato puree
Hot water – 2 C
Coriander leaves – a bunch, for garnish
Spring onions – 2, for garnish
Cherry tomatoes – a couple, for garnish – optional

Method
Wash the cracked wheat and keep aside.
In a microwave safe dish, microwave the tomato pieces at high power for 2-3 min, till the tomatoes are cooked. Mash them using the back of the spoon and keep aside. You could sieve this mixture if you like you puree to be smooth.
Heat the oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and peppercorns and sauté them, stirring occasionally, till the onions are translucent.
Now add the tomato puree and simmer till the puree thickens.
Toss in the cracked wheat and the soaked dal and stir occasionally for a couple of minutes.
Add hot water and salt and bring this to a boil.
Reduce the heat and let the mixture cook on a low flame. Cover the pot with a dish by leaving just enough space for steam to escape.
Simmer for 15 min or till the water is absorbed to reveal to mashy-gooey-Khichdi.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, spring onions and their greens and/or cherry tomatoes.
Serve hot.

You could pair this up with a yogurt + onion (raita) mixture or any pickle. I served this with generous amount of Gongura pickle.