Masala khichdi recipe with step by step photos – spiced and tasty vegetable khichdi made with mix vegetables, mung lentils, rice and spices.
A delicious variation of a khichdi that is slightly spicy and includes mix veggies. Warm, comforting and nutritious.
I started cooking this particular masala khichdi many years back and still do. It is one of our favorite rice-lentils based one-pot recipe. Any khichdi variety is quick to prepare in a pressure cooker and so is this vegetable khichdi. Thus a better cooking option after a tiring day.
Tips for making masala khichdi
- You can add veggies you like or the ones you want to use up quickly. Usually the veggies that I add in this masala khichdi are the usual mix of carrots, capsicum, cauliflower, peas, potatoes and french beans. However, I also add one more veggie and that is brinjal or aubergines. So whenever there are brinjals in the fridge, I add them to the masala khichdi. In the recipe post, I have not added brinjals. But if you do have them, then do add. They give a very nice taste in the khichdi.
- Depending on the amount of water added, you can make a porridge-like consistency or keep a pulao like consistency in the masala khichdi. So choose whatever you prefer.
- The entire recipe has been made in a pressure cooker. Though you can also make it in a pan. Just soak the rice+mung lentils in water for 30 minutes before cooking.
Serve vegetable khichdi with a side salad, pickle, roasted papads or curd.
How to make masala khichdi
1. Take ⅓ cup broken rice or any regular rice and ⅓ cup moong dal (husked split mung lentils) in a bowl. Rinse with water a couple of times. Drain and keep aside. Also chop the veggies and keep aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp ghee or oil in a pressure cooker. Add the following garam masala or whole spices – ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 small to medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf), ½ inch cinnamon, 2 cloves and 2 green cardamoms. Saute till the spices crackle and become fragrant.
3. add ⅓ cup chopped onion.
4. Saute till the onions turn translucent.
5. Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste.
6. Stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
7. Add ¼ to ⅓ cup chopped tomatoes and 1 to 2 green chilies (chopped).
8. Saute for a minute or two.
9. Then add 1 to 1.25 cups mixed chopped veggies along with ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp red chili powder and a pinch of asafoetida (hing). For a more spicy khichdi, add ½ tsp red chili powder. Saute for a minute.
10. Add the rice and moong dal.
11. Mix the rice and moong dal with the rest of the ingredients.
Cooking masala khichdi
12. Add 2 cups of water. This much amount of water gives a vegetable khichdi which has a consistency not like a porridge, but not even dry like a Pulao. for a more liquid consistency in the khichdi, you can increase the amount of water to 2.5 to 3 cups.
13. Season with salt as per your taste.
14. Pressure cook for 14 to 15 minutes or for 7 to 8 whistles. When the pressure falls down on its own, remove the lid.
15. Serve vegetable khichdi hot drizzled with a teaspoon of ghee, if you prefer. Accompany a side veggie salad, raita, pickle or plain curd by the side. You can also garnish it with a few coriander leaves.
More tasty recipes
Masala Khichdi
INGREDIENTS
- ⅓ cup broken rice or any regular rice
- ⅓ cup moong dal (mung lentils)
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 small to medium tej patta (indian bay leaf)
- ½ inch cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 medium onion chopped or ⅓ cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste or 3 to 4 medium garlic and ½ inch ginger - crushed to a paste in mortar-pestle
- 1 small to medium tomato or ¼ to ⅓ cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 or 2 green chilies - chopped
- 1 to 1.25 cups mixed chopped veggies
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- 2 cups water
- a few chopped coriander leaves for garnish optional
- salt as required
INSTRUCTIONS
preparation
- Take rice and moong dal in a bowl. Rinse with water for a couple of times. Drain and keep aside.
- Also chop the veggies and keep aside.
making masala khichdi
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee or oil in a pressure cooker.
- Add the following garam masala or whole spices - 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 small to medium tej patta, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms. Saute till the spices crackle and become fragrant.
- Add 1/3 cup chopped onion and saute them till they turn translucent.
- Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste. Stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
- Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped tomatoes and 1 to 2 green chilies (chopped). Saute for a minute or two.
- Then add 1 to 1.25 cups mixed chopped veggies along with 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp red chili powder and a pinch of asafoetida. For a more spicy khichdi, add 1/2 tsp red chili powder. Saute for a minute.
- Add the rice and moong dal. Mix the rice and moong dal with the rest of the ingredients.
- Add 2 cups water. This much amount of water gives a masala khichdi which has a consistency not like a porridge, but not even dry like a pulao. For a more liquid consistency, you can increase the amount of water to 2.5 to 3 cups.
- Season with salt. Pressure cook for 14 to 15 minutes or for 7 to 8 whistles. When the pressure falls down on its own, remove the lid.
- Serve vegetable khichdi hot drizzled with a teaspoon of ghee if you prefer. Accompany a side veggie salad, raita, pickle or plain curd by the side.
- You can also garnish it with a few chopped coriander leaves if you want.
Your recipes are awesome..!!
thank you much.
As with many dishes, different people prepare kichidi in different ways. I learned from watching my husband’s mom & sis (I’m not Indian but married an Indian gent), but mine always came out too dry and with too much variation from one time to the next. I like having a recipe to follow which solves these problems. Your recipe is really tasty.
thank you claudia for the feedback and rating every family has their own version of making khichdi. so there are hundreds of variations one will find. the variations are also region specific in india. a basic khichdi, that is ayurvedic remains the same, but yes many more ingredients can be added to it.
Hi Dassana. Lovely recipe for masala kichdi. I just have a small query regarding the above recipe – is it ok to use garam masala powder instead of using whole spices to make the process a bit quicker? In that case will there be any compromise in the taste? If the powder can be used, what is the quantity to be used?
thanks angela. with garam masala powder the aromatic profile will be different. whole spices give more aroma in the khichdi. though still, you can use garam masala powder. half teaspoon will be sufficient.
I have been using your recipes and cooking when wife is coming late from work. Do you know many of your recipes are a boon to man like us? THANK YOU. I don’t know many names of ingredient so your pics also helps me identify. Delicious! Thanks and god bless.
thank you for this lovely comment. definitely encourages me to give good recipes to readers. thanks again.
so simple n very yummy
thanks pinky
i am on diet…does this recipe help me in my diet and how many calories does one cup of kichidi contains?
khichdi can be had during dieting. just reduce the amount of ghee or oil in the khichdi. you can even make without ghee and oil. just add everything and pressure cook till the rice and moong dal are cooked. then lightly mash the khichdi. you can add more water if needed later. 1 serving with the ghee added is 322 calories, so for 1 cup you can halve 332 calories which will be 166 calories. it can be less also but depends on the size of the cup.
Great taste,
Thanks Priya
Hummmm….. the smell of spices when cooking alone grabs one’s tongue wagging. Trying it for the first time. It’s in it’s final phase of cooking, so while waiting, it seems appropriate to use that time to give feedback and say: A BIG THANK YOU.
This is going to smash ceilings of all expectations when a friend gets into it.
So, once again thank you for lovely recipes here. Will have to come back and try other ones.
Keep up the work of putting smiles on the faces.
thanks a lot bharat for this wonderful comment. i hope your friend also enjoyed having masala khichdi. do try the other recipes as well.
Is the pressure cooker on medium heat or high?
Anitha, its on medium heat.
Dassana …another great recipe..makes me nostalgic, mom in law back in bangladesh would make awesome veg khichdi(or shobji khichuri) as we call. She would mix everything doesn’t use any whole masala and then pour over mustard oil and mix all very well with her hand..add enough water and cook in the pressure cooker..with some salad and pickled onion the taste was everything that reminds you of home….thank u so much for this beautiful blog
Welcome Kimia. Thanks for sharing your positive feedback and your sweet memory. That era had a different charm.
yummy
Tried it yesterday for Sunday lunch. Wholesome tasty and quick to make
glad to know trupti you liked the khichdi 🙂 thankyou for your positive words.
nice recipe!!
thankyou animesh 🙂
Sis today I tried ur veg biryani in pressure cooker… It’s really came out superb hmmmmmmmm very yummy sis… My hubby accepted my recipe heartly… Thank you very much sis…
glad your hubby liked the veg biryani 🙂 thankyou so much for your positive and kind words.
Thank you soooo much Dasanna sis for your all recipe… I tried some of recipe that I want really it became very well… My hubby starts to encourage me to do new recipe…. Thank you very much sis….
most welcome tejaswini. and thanks for calling me sis 🙂
Thank u very much actually I had come here day before for this recipe but it wasn’t there thank u for posting it
welcome akanksha. thats a co incidence 🙂 i just shared the recipe yesterday.