Murgh Khichdi or chicken Khichdi/Khichuri :Monsoon Mania

“It’s Raining it’s Raining it’s Raiiiiining” Anyone of you remember the Anu Mallik’s song with his typical voice??? Actually I do. Whenever it rains I don’t know why, but my mind always plays this song in the background. May be I listened to this song too much when I was a kid… lol (definitely I ‘ant a fan of Anu ji’s voice). Another thing which rings the bell for me during monsoon is khichdi with loads of bhajiyas in a bigger plate. Ummmm I can actually smell the aroma.

I used to relish different variations of khichdi with all my cousins throughout my childhood. My mother used to make little bit dry khichdi with equal portion of masoor and mung daal with rice. But my mejo mami (aunty) used to make semi liquid khichdi with loads of ghee and small pieces of cauliflowers in it. And when my jemma (another aunt, she is my jethi; I call her jemma) used to be in the kitchen, it had to be liquid but super spicy with a large white omlette on it. I still don’t know how she managed to get them all equally white and large. On the other hand my chini mami (another aunt 😛 ) used to make khichdi in a very simple way, little dry but with loads of halved onions, large chunks of tomatoes and green peas. Ohhhh gosh I just realized how badly I miss them all :(.

But one thing was common in every kitchen; if it is a khichdi day, it has to be a veg day. You can have fried eggs or omelets or maximum a mach bhaja (fried fish) but any non-veg dish is strictly no-no. But we used to share crave for a spicy fish/chicken/mutton curry with it always. (Though none fulfilled that wish.. sob sob.) Now I’m planning to give a twist in our regular veg khichdi by turning it into a non-veg one to satisfy one of my childhood crave :D… (feeling enormous happy inside)… I wish my cousins were here to share this happiness with me. Never mind, may be some other time for them J Here I’m sharing a chicken recipe cooked with khichdi… Trust me guys, after the dish was served on the table, it took less than 15 mins to empty the serving bowl and after dinner plates were as clean as if they were washed.

Chicken breast: 350 gms (I used boneless)

Masoor daal: 3 tbsp

Mung daal: 3 tbsp

Rice: 7 tbsp (I used gobindo bhog)

Onions: 2 large

Tomato: 2 small

Potato: 2 medium

Carrot: 1 large

Green chilli: 6-8

Ginger paste: 1 tsp

Garlic paste: 1 tsp

Tomato puree: 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Cumin powder: 1 tsp

Hing: 1 pinch

Dry red chilli: 3-4

Bay leaves: 1-2

Pepper corn: ½ tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp

White mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Mustered oil: 2 tsp

Ghee: 2 tbsp

Salt according to your taste

Dry roast the mung daal in a heavy bottomed non-stick pan. fry for few mins until fragrant. Then add masoor daal and continue roasting both together for another 2/3 mins. When you can see the color is changing a bit, switch off the flame; keep a side to cool it down.

When the cooling process is on, it’s time to work on the chicken. Wash and clean chicken carefully; make them bite sizes pieces and marinate with half of the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder & salt. Keep the in the refrigerator (covered) for 30 mins.

Wash thoroughly the rice and soak in a separate bowl. Wash all the vegetables too and do all the chopping and dicing. Once the roasted daal mixture is cooled down, wash them too.

Now take a non-stick pan and heat the oil. Add hing, bay leaves, pepper corn, dry red chillies, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, and let them crackle.

Add chopped onions, green chillies, fry until onions change its color to light golden. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry until edges of the onions are slightly dark in color.

Now add chopped carrot and potatoes. Stir lightly.

Add chicken pieces and mix well so that all the pieces get coated.

Now add chopped tomato and dry ingredients along with salt, keep mixing until the raw smell is gone.

Now add tomato puree and sauté for few more mins. You will see the thick gravy is appearing on the edges.

Continue cooking and after a short time oil will be floating on the edges.

This is the time to add the rice and roasted daal mixture. Don’t forget to do the taste test now.

In this step you have two options.

Either you can continue cooking in the same pan or you can opt for a pressure cooker like me. If you are continuing cooking in the same pan, fry the entire mixture for 1-2 mins. Try not to fry longer, it will turn the rice bit hard. Now add 2 cups of warm water mix well and leave the pan covered until rice and daal done. Add more water if required.

If you are opting for pressure cooker, transfer the entire mixture in a pressure cooker and 1 ½ cups of warm water and let it boil uncovered on medium-high flame. Wait for the pressure to rise, then turn down the flame to medium-low and cover it with the lid.

Leave it untouched with the weight on and wait for 3-4 whistles. Switch off the flame and let it rest for 10-15 mins or until cool. Take out the steam by keeping the cooker under running water if you are in hurry.

Voila! Your delicious Murgh Khichdi is ready to rock the table and people around it. Serve it hot (should be piping hot, it’s a must thing for khichdi…. lol), with ghee and loads of pakodas and boiled/fried eggs. I used hard boiled eggs and Onion Pakodas.