Indian name: Kichiri
Soaking: 1 hour
Cooking:: 45 minutes
(4 persons)
Ingredients:
Oil for frying, Sesame oil or Olive oil 2-3 tblsp.
Jasmine rice 1 1/4 cup
Yellow lentils (Channa Daal) 1/2 cup
1 onion, large
1-2 tbsp. mustard seed
1 tbsp. Tamari (Soy Souce)
½ tsp. salt
Spice mixture: 2 cloves, 1 black cardamom (capsule content), 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 inch cinnamon, 10-12 black peppers.
Fry on hot skillet for a few minutes while stirring, and pulverize in mortar.
5 curry leaves 2 inches long
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, dry roasted and used as garnish on top of the rice.
Remember to keep rice and lentils separately, while soaking, and until they are cooked.
Do like this:
Rinse rice and yellow lentils, separately, and well, in several changes of water.
Let them soak in water seperately for one hour.
Cook lentils like this:
Heat oil to medium heat in a large skillet or wok.
Cut onion into slices and temper them in the oil.
Save a few spoonfuls of the onions for garnish.
Now add the spices and fry with the onion for about three minutes.
Add the Tamari and curry leaves, and 1 1/4 cup of hot water.
Add lentils, cover with a lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Now add rice, (and if you want to make a sauce, ½ cup of water) and cook for another twenty minutes.
Rice should not boil to pieces, but be firm and tender at the same time.
If there is water in the bottum of the skillet when the rice is done, do like this:
Sieve remaining sauce off.
At least the sauce should be heated up, and seasoned with salt, before serving.
It is a matter of taste whether you like dryish rice or juicy rice.
Finally garnish the rice with fried onion and dry roasted sunflower seeds.
Serve!
Try eating this dish with your fingers, using right hand only.
Use Indian roti or Naan to scoop up sauce.