Comfort Food & Friends: Way to start the Weekend!

After busy Diwali festivities and food, it was time for some comforting food. While I was passing on my Khichdi, a soft, smooth concoction of rice and lentil recipe to a member on a FB community, I planned to make it for my dinner yesterday and to share pictures with all. Even better, we had Anusha and her husband come over for simple khichdi dinner :) A fun comforting dinner meet it was!

This post will have a complete Friday night dinner recipe:

Kanda Batata Nu Shak or Spicy Onion and Potato Curry is a spicy, rustic, watery curry of potatoes and onions cooked together. Specially during cold winter nights, this hot and spicy curry taste amazing with bread or rice variety.

Chop 1 large onion into medium size pieces. It is okay to have uneven pieces. This is a spicy rustic dish.

Cube 3 large potatoes into medium size uneven pieces or cubes.

  

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a pan. Add a tsp. of mustard seeds and a pinch of hing.

Add chopped onions and potatoes.

Add a pinch of turmeric, salt and water to cover the surface of potatoes. Mix well. Cover and cook till the potatoes get soft and tender.

Add a tsp. of red chilli powder and garam masala powder (mixed spice powder). Mix well. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Bhakris are small, round, slightly crisp biscuit like flat bread. A very important part of Gujarati thali dinner. Bhakris not only taste delicious with onion and potato curry, but also go well with masala chai tea for breakfast.

To Make Bhakris:

Use 3 cups whole wheat flour. Add 3 tbsps. ghee (clarified butter), salt, ajwain seeds (carrom seeds) pepper powder. Mix well and using around 1 1/4 cup water, make a tough dough. I used my food processor with a dough making blade. This was a great investment. I love my 7 year old Cuisinart food processor!

When you have a dough ready, remove in a bowl. Add a bit of oil and knead it slightly with your palms. Let the dough rest for some time.

To roll the dough to make bhakhris, take around 2 tbsp. of dough to form a ball. Roll it out. Get sides together and press them in the center. This type of fold is called 'Kachori fold'. This helps to trap in air and for the bhakris to puff and get flaky while roasting.

Kachori Fold.

Roll into a thick 3-4 inch diameter circles.

I like to use my clay griddle to roast these bhakris or flat bread. 

Place rolled bhakris over hot griddle. Bhakris will tend to stick. Do not try to scrape them out. Only when the bhakris are cooked they will tend to loosen from the clay surface and would be easy to flip it.

See how well they fluff up. Using a cloth or a ladle, press the bhakris to make it crisp. Let them cook well on medium flame, tossing them occasionally.

Apply ghee and serve.

Khichdi is a soft concoction of rice and split moong lentil. Really easy to make and easy to digest. Khichdis are great for kids and for people suffering from fever or flu. 

Mix a cup of rice and 3/4 cup of split moong dal in a large container.

Wash well in running water. Discard this water.

Add 6 cups of water to wash rice and dal.  Add salt,  turmeric, few pepper corns, and cloves. Mix well. Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles or 40 minutes.

When the pressure cooker cools and pressure reduces, remove cooked rice and dal khichdi. Use a ladle and mix well. This soft cooked rice and dal will mix well to form a smooth paste.

Serve while hot with a pat of clarified butter or ghee.

Serve with plain yogurt, onion and tomato salad, and onion and potato curry.

OR

Enjoy as is!