Bajre ka Khichda and Matar ki Subzi - 1

This is a traditional rajasthani dish.. meant for cold weather. It's your typical comfort food that makes you feel nice and warm all over. You can the salty version with peas or the sweet version with Bura (powdered sugar). The ingredient that gives it the taste is ghee (Clarified butter).

I'll split this post in 2 parts. One deals with the Khichda (that's a kind of porridge) made from Bajra (Pearl Millet) and the other with a peas preparation that you eat the khichda with.

So part 1. For the Khichda:
You need:
Pounded Bajra - 2 cups
Water - 6 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 1 cup

How to:
In a large cooker add the pounded bajra, water and salt. Close the cooker and give 5 whistles on high flame. Let the cooker cool. Open and put it back on medium flame. Add milk. Keep cooking for another 15 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid the khichda sticking on the bottom of the cooker. Add more water if needed. The consistency should be semi-liquid. Cook till the millet is soft to eat. Add the ghee and beat it into the khichda. Serve hot with matar ki subzi, green, chutney, and pickle.

Shortly coming up - post 2 with the matar ki subzi.

Dal Dhokli

This is again a very popular traditional Rajasthani recipe that is easy to make and one of my favorites. It's a complete meal in itself and a delight to one's palate :)

You need:
For the dal
Split green moong dal (green lentils) - 2 cups
Onion - 2 medium - finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece - grated
turmeric powder - 1 tsp
salt to taste
For the dhokli
Wheat flour - 1/4th cup
Gram flour - 1/2 cup
cumin seeds - 2 tsp
red chilly pd - 1/4 tsp
salt- 1/4 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp
water to knead
For tempering
ghee - 2 tbsp (can substitute with oil)
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
green chilly -1 -2 - finely chopped
red chilly powder - 1 tsp

How to:
Mix everything for the dal and put it in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water. Put on high flame for 2 whistles and remove from flame.
Meanwhile, mix everything for the dhokli together and knead into a soft dough. Roll the dough in a slightly thick round using a rolling pin. Cut out 1 inch squares from this rolled dough. Keep repeating till all the dough is used up.
Open the cooker and add these dough pieces in the hot dal add more water (not more than 2 cups). Close the cooker and simmer on low flame for 15-20 minutes.
Open the cooker once cool. In a pan, heat the ghee, add cumin seeds and green chilly, add the red chilly powder and immediately pour over the contents of the cooker. Mix well.

While serving, add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with green coriander chutney.