Thursday, June 16, 2016

Posted by Mala at 1:30:00 AM 1 comment
I was so very blessed to be in Uttarakhand early this month, and with the Divine Grace, visited the Panch prayag. I would love to share those details with you:
Vishnu Prayag: the confluence of Alaknanda and Dauli ganga
Nandh Prayag: the confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini
Karna Prayag: the confluence of Alaknanda and Pindar ganga
Rudra Prayag: the confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini
Dev Prayag: the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi
After this, it becomes Sampoorna Ganga.
"Panch" in Hindi means 5, and "Prayag" means...confluence, sangam....I am reminded of the Magnum Opus of  Raj kapoor with Vyjayanthi mala - movie   "Sangam" where he sings "mere man ki ganga aur tere man ki jamuna ka, bol radha bol sangam hoga ki nahin..."मेरे मन को गंगा और तेरी मन की जमुना का बोल राधा बोल संगम होगा की नही...that is a real sweet and meaningful song...
In a restaurant in Rudraprayag, I tasted this awesome Khichdi, immediately met the chef and asked him for the  recipe, which he shared with me at once, without creating any fuss. And....what is my duty?? to share immediately with you all!
The only modification I have done is, instead of basmati rice, I have used brown rice and have made it healthier.
This Khichdi has been named Pancha prayag, (the chef told),  because, 5 protein-rich dhals have been used in this,(which you may imagine to be the various great rivers) and the super-nutritious broken brown rice(which you may call the Sampoorna Ganga), has been combined with these dhals . And to augment the nutrition,  amaranthus (called அரைக்கீரை in tamil) has been used.(there, the chef  had used palak) What more you want??? Isn't it a great one-pot meal?




Ingredients
Broken brown rice or  basmati rice  - 1/4 cup 
Tur dhal - 2 tbsps
Masoor dhal - 2 tbsps
Split moong dhal - 2 tbsps
Channa dhal - 2 tbsps
Split black urad dhal/ split white urad  - 2 tbsps
Amaranthus - 1 1/2 cups, cleaned and tightly packed 
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Water - 3 cups


Initial seasoning
Cooking oil - 3 tbsps
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Saunf / aniseeds - 3/4 tsp
Cloves - 2-3
Cardamom - 2-3
Cinnamon sticks- 2-3 small pieces
Salt to taste

Final  seasoning
Ghee - 2-3 tbsps
Jeera - 1 tsp
Coarsely powdered pepper - 1 tsp
Finely chopped ginger - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - handful

Recipe cuisine: Maharashtrian; Category: Lunch; dinner
Prep time: 10 mts;Cooking time: 15-20 mts

Serves 2

Brown rice & dhals measured and taken in a bowl, and soaked in hot water for 1/2 to 1 hour


Heat a pressure pan with the measured cooking oil, add turmeric powder, green chillies, cardamom, clove and cinnamon, then add a spoon of ani seeds, then the chopped onions, saute well


Add the amaranthus, and saute well. Allow the leaves to shrink nicely .....


like this....


Add the brown rice and dhals with the measured water. The brown rice + dhals came to 3/4 cups, for which I added 3 cups water, i.e., the ratio is one cup of dhal + rice :4 cups water. I would also like to mention one more thing here. The split black urad dhal is a bit harder than the other dhals. So, while the all the other dhals get a mashed up consistency, this dhal was a bit crunchy. But it was negligible tho.


Picture below shows the khichdi cooked for 15 minutes, (after the first whistle, keep the flames on the lowest), and the second picture shows the nicely mashed up khichdi. Pour some hot water if necessary.


Final seasoning in ghee done with pepper-jeera, curry leaves and ginger, and added to the khichdi. The aroma will gently permeate all over the house, and your hunger will kick start.




This post first appeared in www.malpatskitchen.com

Serve it hot-hot, with a bowl of curds and roasted papad. (chef served it with fried papads)..... the only word will be  YUM!!!


Notes
*This is a real comfort food. To make  it packed with more nutrition, green peas, finely chopped carrots, and veggies of your choice can be added
* 2 chopped tomatoes can be added after sautéing onion
*For an aching throat, nothing can give more solace. Like a small baby, gulping  down the paruppu saadham (dhal-rice) with ghee, we gulped this wonderful khichdi down!!









1 comments:

  1. This wonderful satiating recipe from the neighborhood of Himalayas is endearing .Thanks for sharing this jam packed nutritive kichadi.The introduction to this recipe is fantastic! This is a sure pinup to my recipe index.

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