Rava Khichadi Recipe

Ingredients:

• Rava (semolina/Suji) - 1 cup
• Onion - 1
• Carrot, small - 1
• Potato, small - 1
• Fresh peas - 1/4 cup
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Green chili - 3
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Cloves - 2
• Cardamom - 1
• Cinnamon stick - 1 inch piece
• Bay leaf - 1
• Cashew nuts, halved - 10
• Curry leaf - 1 sprig
• Water - 3 cups
• Salt - to taste
• Ghee (clarified butter) - 1 tbsp (optional)
• Oil - 2 tbsp

Instructions:

1. Chop the onions finely. Thinly slice the potatoes and carrots.
2. Microwave carrots, potatoes, green peas at high for 2 minutes. You can also blanch them. Keep aside.
3. Grind both green chili and ginger without adding any water and keep aside.
4. Heat ghee in a pan, add the cashews and roast till golden brown, drain and keep aside.
5. Add oil to the same pan. Add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf and sauté till you get the aroma.
6. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Now add onions, curry leaves and sauté till the onions turn pink.
7. Add the ground ginger and chili paste, mix well and cook for a minute.
8. Add rava, turmeric powder, salt and keep sautéing over low flame for 2-3 minutes. The rava will get roasted well.
9. Raise the flame to full. Add the blanched vegetables and pour the water with one hand into the rava mixture while mixing with a spatula with the other hand.
10. Mix well. You can see the khichdi thickening while the water starts to bubble around. Simmer the flame now. Close with a lid a let it cook for 4-5 minutes.
11. Switch off stove and keep the khichdi closed with a lid so that the khichdi gets further cooked in the heat and it will become grainy and separate instead of being mushy.
12. You can add another tbsp of ghee, roasted cashews and mix well before serving the hot khichdi with coconut chutney and sambar.