Make this Khichadi Rice and Lentils recipe in your Instant Pot to create the ultimate Indian comfort food! This recipe is super tasty and vegetarian and vegan friendly!
Khichadi Rice and Lentils
I'm sick today so made myself a little comfort food. This Khichadi Rice and Lentils is the Indian equivalent of grilled cheese and tomato soup? It's rice and dal, cooked together in an Instant Pot until mushy, flavored with ghee, cumin seeds, turmeric, and salt. Every little baby grows up eating this, and it's supposed to be really easy on your stomach. I love peanuts in my version.
To make this, you'll need some kind of daal. You want something like moong dal, or masoor dal or something that is split, not whole dal. Don't use chana dal which won't cook fast enough.
The combination of rice and dal makes this a complete, vegetarian protein source. Here are some examples of daal that will work (all except the one at the top right, the little brown ones, because see how that's an entire bean, not split like the others? That's not what you want. You want split beans like the others)
How else do people say/spell Khichadi?
You may find, when searching, that there are several ways you can spell Khichadi. Some variations of the word for this same dish may include: Khichdi, Dal Khichdi, Kitchari, Khitchari.
However you spell this delicious dish, you're going to love eating it! Spelling doesn't matter when it tastes so good!
LOOKING FOR MORE DELICIOUS VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN RECIPES? CHECK OUT MY VEGAN SOOKHI URAD DAL RECIPE!
And if you're looking for more Indian vegetarian dishes, check out my 75+ EASY Indian Instant Pot Recipes post!
For additional nerd points, I can tell you that the dish/word Kedgeree is an anglicized version of the Indian khichadi. So now you know.
You want this to be mushy, but not soupy. Here's how I made this.
Want More One Pot Pressure Cooker Meals?
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken is an easy 30-minute dinner and you can make rice on top of it, as the video shows.
- Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal is a great vegetarian rice dinner.
- This Lebanese Lentil and Rice dish is another great Vegetarian Instant Pot recipe.
- Instant Pot Indian Khichadi is comfort food in a bowl!
- Instant Pot Risotto with Shrimp is another one-pot comfort meal.
- Buffalo chicken casserole for the days you want low carb recipes
- You might also like low carb Chicken Biryani that uses riced cauliflower.
- Chicken and Mushrooms are a great combo.
- My kids love Instant Pot Pork Chops with Rice and Vegetables
- Zucchini Lasagna- You won't even miss the pasta.
- Haluski Recipe - A wonderful cabbage and noodles recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoons Turmeric
- 1/4 cup Spanish peanuts
- 3/4 cup Short Grain Rice, (such as jasmine or sona masoori)
- 1/4 cup moong dal or whatever kind of split dal you have or a mix of them
- 1 3/4 cup Water, (one and three quarters, not 13 cups of water)
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Mix the rice and dal and rinse well
- Turn your Instant Pot on Sauté and high heat, and when it's hot, add ghee
- Once the ghee melts and starts to shimmer, add the cumin seeds into the oil and wait for them to start sputtering like popcorn
- Add in the turmeric and let it sizzle so it doesn't taste raw
- Quickly add in peanuts and stir around and then add the rice and dal
- Stir until all of it is coated with the ghee
- Pour in water, add salt, and set your Instant Pot on high for 10 minutes
- Allow NPR and open carefully. You may meed to add a 1/4 c of water at this point if the rice has absorbed all of it.
- Stir everything together and serve with additional ghee or a little yogurt on the side.
SJR
I love your helpful recipes! I used coconut oil and cashew pieces since I was out of ghee and peanuts. So yummy! Will make it both ways from now on.
Amelia
I just made this with Jasmine rice, urad, and cashews instead of peanuts. The house smells so good with it cooking. I didn't add the extra ¼ cup water after cooking as I'm going to eat it more like a pilaf. Thanks for the recipe! Definitely a keeper!
Elaine Tsai
I just made this and I love the flavors. Definitely a five star recipe. The recipe was quick and easy. I froze the Khichadi in individual portions for lunch. I’m always looking for things that I’m able to freeze and pull out for meals. I made the recipe exactly as written and I will make it again. Thank you!