Fada ni khichdi (dalia khichdi)
Delicious, creamy and wholesome are the words I would use to describe this easy and quick fada ni khichdi. And best of all, it’s a one pot cooking.
As with most of my recipes and as the tagline says, this blog is all about inspired vegetarian creations. If you have been to the iconic restaurant, Swati Snacks in Mumbai, you will surely be drooling at the thought of that mouthwatering hot fada ni khichdi served with cold, creamy curd tempered with garlic. Heavenly!! I love absolutely everything on the menu that Swati Snacks has to offer be it satpadi rotli or cheese masala pav or melt in the mouth sev puri.
Today’s recipe is just that then. Inspired by this ever-popular restaurant, this is my humble effort to replicate their fada ni khichdi. Fada is the Gujarati name for dalia (broken wheat, cracked wheat, bulgar wheat). Fada or dalia is wholesome on its own but when combined with vegetables and split mung dal, it makes for a delicious one pot meal. A fairly easy recipe actually…do the masalas, combine dalia mix and pressure cook.
The fada ni khichdi served at Swati Snacks is almost like a creamy porridge. The trick to get that kind of texture is to use finely chopped green beans and carrot. This allows the vegetables to almost disintegrate during the process of cooking. Another trick is to use a potato cut in small cubes and include a handful of short grain rice. The short grain rice and potato makes this meal more ‘buttery’ like without having to add much ghee or butter.
Hung curd dip with garlic oil is another essential element to this khichdi. Adding spoonful of this cold curd to a hot khichdi makes for a delicious contrast, trust me! And best of all, it takes just takes under 5 minutes to make it. As I said, it is a fairly simple recipe but it makes to a popular restaurant menu due to its contrast of hot and cold and the creaminess of the khichdi.
It is truly one of quick one pot meal that comes together, cooked in a pressure cooker or an instant pot. Do read the notes as I have given instructions on how to cook in instant pot as well.
If you love the texture of fada/dalia, be sure to look at Egyptian ‘pita bread’ made with a combination of whole wheat flour and fada/dalia. And yet another take on fada is my homemade sprouted cracked wheat, with which I made a traditional Gujarati 5 minute sweet with only 1 tbsp of ghee – fada ni lapsi.
Some other Gujarati recipes that may interest you:
Recipe Card
Fada ni khichdi (dalia khichdi)
Recipe Rating
AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Gujarati
PREP TIME
15 minutes
COOK TIME
30 minutes
SERVINGS
Serves 4
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Gujarati | Category: Healthy Options
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Servings: Serves 4
Delicious, creamy and wholesome are the words I would use to describe this easy and quick fada ni khichdi. And best of all, it’s a one pot cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fada/dalia, fine kernels
- ½ cup split mung dal (yellow)
- ¼ cup short grain rice* read notes
- For tempering:
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 5 cloves
- 1-inch cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- For the masala:
- 2 medium onion, finely chopped
- 5 garlic + ½ inch ginger paste
- 3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 ½ tsp red chili powder
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 2 cups mixed vegetable, finely chopped *read notes
- Salt to taste
- For tempering (optional):
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp chaat masala powder
- ¼ tsp garam masala powder
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
Method
- Wash rice and dal together under running water till the drained water is barely cloudy.
- Wash fada/dalia in a separate container till the drained water is barely cloudy.
- Combine rice, dal and fada together and soak in warm water for at least 30 minutes.
- In a pressure cooker (instant pot method is in the notes), place ghee on a low flame.
- Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves and sauté till it sizzles about 1-2 minutes.
- Place finely chopped coriander leaves, onions and salt and mix well.
- Continue to cook the onion mix on a low flame till almost pink.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté again for 1 minute.
- Combine tomatoes, turmeric and red chili powder and mix well.
- Cover with a lid and let it cook on a low flame until mushy and the mix looks homogenous.
- Add the fada/dalia mix along with the mix vegetables to the tomato-onion mix and combine well.
- Place 5 cups water to the khichdi and pressure cook for 3 whistles on medium heat.
- Once cooled, open the lid of the cooker and stir the khichdi for a minute. Stirring it well will allow the mix to be homogenous and ‘creamy’
- Serve the khichdi with hung curd dip with garlic oil or do the optional tempering.
- For the optional tempering, heat ghee on a low flame in a small pan.
- Add finely chopped onions and sauté till pink.
- Turn off the flame and add chaat masala, garam masala powder and coriander leaves.
- Pour it over the warm khichdi and give it a quick mix.
- Serve the khichdi with hung curd dip with garlic oil and enjoy.
Notes
- Any short grain rice like sona masoori, ponni rice, ambemohar etc will blend beautifully and will add creaminess to the khichdi
- Cumin seeds tend to burn very quickly imparting almost a bitter aftertaste. I would recommend sautéing cumin seeds on a low flame and for only a minute or two for it to be flavourful.
- Alternatively, if you have made khichdi in advance and it has become too thick to your liking, add boiling water to the room temperature khichdi and with a whisk combine it all till it reaches the consistency you desire. However, do remember to adjust the seasoning as water will dilute the flavours. You can add the optional tempering after you have done this step.
- I chose to add a combination of finely chopped green beans, carrot and a small potato to this khichdi as I wanted to replicate the restaurant’s dish. In this recipe the cubed potato adds to the creaminess making it delicious. I would recommend cutting the potato in small cubes so that it almost disintegrates in the khichdi.
- This khichdi can also be done in an instant pot. Proceed with steps 4-11 on the sauté mode. Press cancel. Add 5 cups of water, cover the IP with the lid and press porridge button and set the timer for 14 minutes. Let it release the pressure naturally and open the lid once the pin drops. Proceed as written above from step 13.
- Update: I did a step by step video of this recipe on my Facebook and Instagram account. For future reference, I have saved it under ‘Dinner ideas’ in highlights of my Instagram account.
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