Khichdi. Representational photo from iStock
Food

My Food Story: An ‘awesome’ khichdi of millet

Keon Dana khichdi helped me get better during a bout of sickness in childhood

Brishti Ghosh

In my childhood, just like other kids, I didn’t like vegetables. But once during my summer vacation, I visited my Nanighar (maternal grandmother’s house). My Nani was a super cook. I became sick for two days due to a change in weather. My Nani made this millet khichdi with lots of vegetables and less spices. The khichdi was really awesome. Here, I am sharing the recipe for the Keon Dana khichdi but made in my style.

Foxtail Millet Khichdi

Ingredients

Foxtail Millet – 2 cups

Moong Masoor dal – 1/2 cup

Onion – 1

Ginger-green chilli paste – 2 tspn

Tomato – 1

Chopped Beans – 1 bowl

Carrot – 2

Chopped Cauliflower – 1 bowl

Chopped capsicum

Peas – 1 bowl

Turmeric powder – 1 tspn

Cumin powder – 1 tspn

Red chilli powder – 1 tspn

Coriander powder – 1 tspn

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tbspn

For Tadka (seasoning)

Baby onion – 15

Dry red Kashmiri chilli – 1

Cumin seeds – 1 tspn

Red chilli powder – 1 tspn

Ghee (clarified butter) – 1 tbspn

Method

Soak the millet with enough water for 3-4 hours. In a pressure cooker, heat oil & fry chopped onion, tomato and ginger-green chilli paste for a few minutes. Add chopped veggies, salt and spices. Cook it for a few more minutes. Add soaked millet, soaked dal and cook it for five minutes. Add water and pressure cook it with four-five whistles. Now, in a tadka pan, heat ghee and add dry red chilli, baby onion, cumin seeds and red chilli powder. Fry it for a few minutes. Add it to the khichdi. Add a tablespoon of ghee over it and enjoy with papad.

My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).

Join us as we showcase the recipes shared with us by the participants of a recently concluded recipe contest.

Brishti Ghosh is a food influencer from Maharashtra