[CH] Kichiri for Chile-Heads
Eruna Schultheiss (eruna@taom.com)
Sat, 20 Oct 2001 22:18:42 -0600
Hello Chile-Heads,
Following is a recipe that I created today for you guys, for Mary-Anne and
of course for myself too. I was going to make Mary-Anne's Hyderabadi Daal
for brunch, when I realized that I couldn't - I had no access to our server,
which was down, and that's where her recipe was. While I was walking into
the kitchen, a little frustrated (I wanted something new), I got the idea of
inventing a Kichiri for Chile-Heads. Kichiri is a mixture of lentils and
rice cooked together and it is normally not at all spicy. I'll never forget
how I was teased by my Indian friends, when I put one chile pepper into a
kichiri for a potluck (Eruna just cannot prepare any dish without chilies).
So you need to know, this is not an authentic recipe at all, however it is a
very tasty, very nourishing meal in itself, which, if you have a pressure
cooker, you are able to serve in less than 20 minutes. I cook a lot of
Indian food, so I had everything handy, and it took me more like 15 minutes
from start till serving.
The length of the ingredient list may look intimidating, however, if you are
a chile-head, who does some occasional Indian cooking, you will have most
ingredients (or substitutes) at home.
In terms of heat level: neither Izumi (10 years) nor I thought the dish was
spicy. A very tasty brunch dish; however, if you want to get a heat kick out
of it, you need to add more peppers or cayenne powder, or both.
Enjoy, and let us know!
Eruna
* Exported from MasterCook Mac *
Kichiri for Chile-Heads
Recipe By : Eruna Schultheiss
Serving Size : 2 Preparation Time :0:20
Categories : Beans, Rice, Pasta, Potatoes
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion -- chopped
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic -- finely chopped
3 serrano peppers -- finely chopped
3 jalapenos -- finely chopped
1 banana pepper -- finely chopped
1 ancho pepper -- finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper -- finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes -- chopped
1/4 teaspoon tumeric powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon Hing powder (asefotida) -- optional
8 whole cardamom pods -- crushed
1/4 cup dried coconut flakes
8 fresh or dried curry leaves -- optional
1 cup yellow daal lentils*
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 cube bouillon
3 cups water -- minimum
fresh coriander leaves for garnish -- optional
In a pressure cooker heat the oil and sauté the onion (while you are
chopping the peppers). Add the chopped garlic, then the cumin seeds. Stir.
Add more and more of the peppers as they are getting chopped. Stir. Add the
tomatoes and the spices. Stir. Wash the Daal (lentils) and the rice and add
them to the pot. Add a minimum of 3 cups of water. 3 cups will give you a
thick consistency. If you want your kichiri to be more liquid and soup like,
add a little bit more water.
Lock the pressure cooker and bring to pressure. Cook at High Pressure for 6
minutes. I use the quick release method (cold water). Serve immediately.
Garnish with cilantro (fresh coriander) if you have. Enjoy!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per serving (excluding unknown items): 249 Calories; 14g Fat (48% calories
from fat); 5g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 36mg Sodium
NOTES :
I used a combination of the small yellow Daal bought in a Korean store (3/4
cup) and 1/4 cup of the bigger size yellow Chana Daal. However any Daal e.g.
red Masoor Daal will do fine. It will change the taste however, so you may
want to play with different varieties.
If you don't have any asafetida or curry leaves, don't bother, just omit
them.
Feel free to substitute with other peppers (whatever you have handy).
However, if you don't like it spicy, you may reduce the pepper quantity or
simply replace them with some other finely chopped vegetable.
Also, the bouillon is not authentic. I personally prefer bouillon to salt in
this dish, feel free to go back to authentic salt for Kichiri.