Moong Dal Khichdi (or Khichari) recipe is a simple and healthy Indian comfort meal made using split yellow moong lentils, rice, and tempered in ghee with cumin seeds in an Instant Pot pressure cooker or stovetop. Vegetarian, gluten-free, and can be prepared in under 30 minutes.
What is Khichdi (Khichari)?
Khichdi is a delicious one-pot dish from Indian cuisine made of rice and lentils. It is nutritious, wholesome, and easy to digest. Khichdi is also known by other names khichadi, Khichri, Khichri, or khichuri.
It is light on the tummy and easy to digest hence when someone is ill or recovering, doctors recommend khichdi to patients. In India, Plain moong dal khichdi is considered one of the first solid foods that babies eat.
Each home has its own version of khichdi in various regions of India. In South India, we make a similar dish made of rice and lentils, and it's called Ven Pongal. I also like making Vegetable Masala Khichdi which includes onion, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, and a few spices which are filling and wholesome.
Today I am sharing how to make a Healthy Khichdi recipe in an Instant Pot and Stovetop Pressure Cooker.
Why You'll Love this Instant Pot Khichdi Recipe
- Ready in under 25 minutes
- It is a healthy, comfort, and a nutritious one-pot meal
- Prepared with basic pantry ingredients.
- Packed with protein.
- Easy to digest, it makes great meals for babies, toddlers, kids, and the elderly.
- Vegan, Vegetarian, and can be made gluten-free by using gluten-free asafoetida.
Ingredients
- Moong Dal: I have used split yellow moong dal in this recipe. I did not soak the dal before cooking, as yellow lentils cook faster. You can also use masoor dal or toor dal.
- Rice: I have used Basmati rice in this recipe. You may also use sona masoori rice.
- Ghee or Oil: Khichdi tastes best with ghee, but if you are a vegan, replace it with any cooking oil.
- Green chilies: I used Thai green chilies for the heat.
- Whole spices: I used cumin seeds, and bay leaf in this recipe.
- Dry spices: I used turmeric powder, and asafoetida (hing).
- Coriander leaves: for garnish.
How to Make Khichdi in Instant Pot
Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add ghee or oil to the POT. Note: Tastes better with ghee. Once the pot is hot, add in the bay leaf, cumin (jeera) seeds, green chilies, and asafoetida. Saute for a few secs.
Next, add the rinsed moong dal, rice, turmeric powder, salt, and water. Mix well.
Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.
Once the pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
Then, open the lid, add coriander leaves, and mix khichri well.
Note: If rice is not mushy or if it's too dry, then select saute mode, add ½ cup of water and cook for another minute.
Instant pot Moong Dal Khichdi Recipe (Indian Rice and Lentil Porridge) is ready, serve it hot with yogurt, raita, or kadhi.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Instructions
- Follow the same steps, close the lid place a whistle, and cook for 3-4 whistles on medium flame. All other steps remain the same.
How to Serve the Moong Dal Khichdi
Serve yellow moong dal khichdi with a spoon of homemade ghee on top or with yogurt or raita on the side. I prefer eating with kadhi. Also, some pickle and papad on the side too!
Storage Suggestions
- Refrigerator: Moong Dal Khichri tastes best when served fresh and piping hot. But if you have leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days.
- Freezer: Khichdi freezes well. Store them in freezer-safe zip locks or containers for up to 2 months.
- Reheat: Khichdi soaks up all liquid and gets dry when refrigerated. For reheating, add a few tablespoons of water and heat in the microwave or stovetop pot till warm.
Variations
- Water Ratio: The water ratio used in this recipe is four times the quantity of rice and lentils used together. This helps to make a soft, porridge-like consistency for the final dish.
- Brown Rice: If you use brown basmati rice, increase the pressure cook time to 20-22 minutes.
- Other Grains: Substitute white rice with quinoa or millets, same pressure cooking time, i.e., 8 Minutes on High Pressure.
- Add vegetables: To make it extra nutritious, you can add vegetables like onion, tomato, carrot, beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, or spinach.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make vegan moong dal khichdi, you can replace ghee with any cooking oil.
Khichri tastes best when it is served fresh and steaming hot. But if you have leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
For reheating, add a few drops of water and heat in the microwave or stovetop pot.
Yes! to make it more healthy and wholesome, you can add vegetables such as onion, tomato, broccoli, carrot, beans, peas, cauliflower, pumpkin, and spinach.
Yes. Traditionally khichdi is prepared with just moong dal, but you can replace it with toor dal, chana dal, split green moong dal, or use a combination of two lentils.
1. Skip whole spices like bay leaf and green chilies.
2. Kids need healthy fat, so drizzle extra ghee while serving.
3. Mash the khichri well with a masher until soft. You may also grind/blend if you prefer.
4. This moong khichdi can be given to babies older than 10 months after introducing rice and moong dal separately. Because some babies may be colic due to lentils.
More Healthy Khichdi Recipes
More Instant Pot Rice Recipes
If you’ve tried this healthy moong dal khichdi recipe or any other recipe on Indianveggiedelight, then don’t forget to rate the recipe. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook to see the latest recipes!
Moong Dal Khichdi
Equipment
Ingredients
Measuring cup used 1 cup = 250 ml
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 green chili optional
- 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
- 1 pinch asafetida(hing) skip for gluten-free
- ½ cup split yellow moong dal
- ½ cup basmati rice rinsed
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- salt adjust to taste
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
Instant Pot Method
- Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add ghee or oil to the POT. Note: Tastes better with Ghee. Once the pot is hot add in the bay leaf, cumin (jeera) seeds, green chilies, and asafoetida. Saute for few secs.
- Next, add the rinsed moong dal, rice, turmeric powder, salt, and water. Mix well.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.
- Once the pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Then, open the lid, add cilantro and mix khichdi well.
- Note: If rice is not mushy or too dry then select saute mode and add an additional ½ cup of water and cook for another minute.
- Moong Dal Khichdi Recipe ( Indian Rice and Lentil Porridge) is ready, serve it hot with yogurt, raita, or kadhi.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- Follow the same steps and close the lid place a whistle and cook for 3-4 whistle on medium flame. All other steps remain the same.
Video
Notes
Variations
- The water ratio used in this recipe is 4 times the rice and lentils together. This helps to make a soft, porridge-like consistency for the final dish.
- If you are using brown rice, increase pressure cook time to 20-22 minutes.
- Substitute white rice with quinoa or millets, same pressure cooking time i.e., 8 Minutes High Pressure
Anwesha says
Tried this recipe only yesterday in my Cuisinart electric pressure and the result was good! Thank you for taking the time out to post these amazing instant pot recipes. They are a lifesaver.
Bhavana Patil says
Yayyyy !!!!! That's amazing Anwesha. As I mentioned, I have personally not tried Cuisinart, so it is good to know that it works well on it as well 🙂🙂 I am glad, you are trying multiple recipes from the blog and that makes me super happy, keep posting your feedback.
Luvmytwins says
This came out great and so easy just using pantry items. As good as my Indian mother-in-law makes and easier. Husband loved it and asked for it again. Nice dish to have on a cold rainy day. I do add fresh tomatoes as that how family makes it.
Bhavana Patil says
Hello, I am so glad to know your family liked it, thanks for sharing your feedback!