Kale Quinoa Khichari

Khichari is a soft creamy porridge/risotto like comfort food loved by literally every Indian I know. It’s a grounding meal-in-a-pot kinda recipe that is an essential winter dish in our household and whenever a quick healthy meal is desired. I take it to work, eat it as a post workout meal, and of course dinner. I have couple different recipes of Khichari on my blog, this one however is with quinoa. I find this a tad lighter and together with mung beans it’s a plant based protein packed meal for adults, kids, and even babies if you take out the spices.

Khichari as prescribed in Ayurveda is healing, detoxifying and nourishing. Its high in plant protein, fiber, complex carbs to keep blood sugar stable, and offers all the essential amino acids for a nutritionally sustainable meal. Made with warming spices like turmeric for anti-inflammatory properties along with ghee(turmeric is fat souble), black pepper which increases its bioavailability by 1000%, cumin to ease and soothe digestion, it’s simply a hug-in-a-bowl!! don’t we all need that right now.

Adding roast veggies is optional, I love to serve it with extra veggies to add more flavor and nutritional benefits. To add kale simply wash the leaves, chop and add it right before you take the pot off the heat. The residual heat from the Khichari will cook down the leaves. It’s also delicious with plain yogurt, papad, Indian style pickle or chutney.

Khichari Kale Bowl, serves 4

Ingredients

• ½ cup yellow split mung dal or red lentils, rinsed
• 3/4 cup white quinoa, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes
• 1 tablespoon cultured ghee or olive or coconut oil
• 3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafetida
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 2-3 green chillies, (seeded if mild desired) and chopped
• 2 bay leaves or 1 sprig fresh curry leaves
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorn
• 1 teaspoon kosher sea salt
• 4-5 cups water or homemade sodium free vegetable broth
• 4 cups kale, washed and torn into bite sized pieces; (other options are 3 cups spinach or 1-2 cups chopped broccoli)

Garnishes

• Lime juice
• cilantro chopped
• chutneys
• a teaspoon ghee
• roast veggies

1. Soak the rinsed dal and quinoa in a bowl for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat ghee or oil in a large dutch oven or sauce pan over low-medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and allow to sizzle. Now add the bay leaf, ginger and asafetida. Allow to sizzle for another minute.
3. Add the turmeric, salt, chillies and peppercorn and saute. Add the rinsed lentil-quinoa mix and saute for another minute.
4. Pour the water and add salt. Mix everything very well, sometimes the the spices stick to the pot. Bring it up to a boil.
5. Cover and reducer and simmer for 40 minutes until the lentils and quinoa are very soft almost risotto like consistency. Add a little more water if it sticks to the bottom of the pan or its dry. You’re aiming for a soft soupy risotto like texture. Don’t worry if its too liquidy, it will thicken as it cools.
6. It’s done when the Khichari is soft and creamy. Add the chopped greens if using. Mix the chopped leaves with the Khichari, cover and let the residual heat cook the leaves down. Taste and adjust the seasoning of needed. Serve with the garnishes suggested.

NOTES

• Leave out the chillies if mild Khichari is desired or feeding young kids and babies.
• The black peppercorn are edible after cooking, they do give a burst of peppery heat to the otherwise mild dish, this is optional, simply pull out the peppercorn before eating.
• The Khichari can be eaten plain as is, but garnishes compliment and amplify the flavors making it even better. Try plain yogurt, ground black pepper with melted cultured ghee, chutney’s, Indian style mango or lemon pickle, a couple spoons of saurekraut is delicious too.