This is my toddlers favourite food right now. It's a recipe that was explained to me in my sister-in-laws kitchen but i've modified it a little bit so it's not exactly like the traditional Kitchidi at this point - But it's healthy, filling and easy to whip up using different veg from the fridge.
I cook this at home in an instant pot, I only make about 2 or 3 days worth at a time because I've found that it doesn't really freeze that well. But you don't need to do it in a pressure cooker, you can use a sauce pan with a lid, but the cook time to soften everything to a soup like consistency is much longer (more like 30-40 mins).
We often make this dish with various veggie combos but I use this basic recipe as a jumping off point.
This "Kitchidi" is not exactly Kitchidi for that you'll need to refer to a real Indian cooks website or recipe book. However, this is what I make for my toddler and he's all about it.
1/2 cup Coconut Milk (just use an extra 1/2 cup water if you don’t have coconut milk)
Directions
Combine your 1/4 cup rice and 1/4 cup moong dal and rinse them in fresh water until the water runs fairly clear.
Fill up a small bowl with drinking water and leave the rice dal mixture to soak in the water while you prep the other ingredients.
Next finely chop your onion, 2 carrots, and any other veggies you want to add in.
Plug in your instant pot and press the sauté button. Heat up your oil or ghee.
Add 1 tsp of cumin seeds.
Once the cumin seeds start to splutter add you finely diced onion along with your chopped carrots and fry until they start soften. Next add your peas.
Add ¼ tsp of Turmeric and stir to combine.
Drain the rice and dal you’ve been soaking and add that to the pot, add ½ tsp of salt. Saute this for a minute.
Next add your Water & Coconut Milk to the pot and stir to combine everything.
Switch off the saute mode, put the lid on the cooker (don’t forget to turn the dial to seal it). Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.
Once the timer is complete you can let the steam release naturally or you can do a manual release if you’re in a rush.
Open the pot, and give it a stir, add a little more salt at this point (according to your paediatricians recommendation for their age / your toddlers preference)
Recipe Note
EQUIPMENT (linked are a few the tools I used to make this dish)
