Chicken Khichadi Recipe

Chicken Khichadi Recipe:

After a long and lazy Saturday I thought I would make something special for dinner and chicken khichadi came to my mind.This is my moms recipe and she used to cook it for us on weekends.Chicken kichadi is basically a rice and lentils dish cooked with lots of aromatic  spices and of course chicken.I did not have chicken stock stored at home so I used plain water for boiling the rice and lentils,but you can always use chicken stock for boiling purpose as it improves the flavor of the rice.

Lets start with the recipe:

Chicken Khichadi Ingredients:

• 250 grams chicken.
• 1 cup masur dal/Pink lentil.
• 1 cup moong dal/Golden gram.
• 2 cups Basmati rice.
• 1 tea spoon turmeric powder.
• 2 tea spoon cumin powder.
• 1 tea spoon coriander powder.
• 1 tea spoon red chili powder.
• 2 table spoon onion paste.
• 1 table spoon garlic paste.
• 1 tea spoon ginger paste.
• 1 chopped large onion.
• 1 table spoon curd.
• 1 cinnamon stick.
• 4 to 5 cardamoms.
• 1 bay leaf.
• 1/2 tea spoon garam masala powder.

Chicken Khichadi Method:

1. Wash and boil the lentils(moong dal and masur dal) and rice together.Remove from heat and keep aside.
2. Now in another pan heat oil and add the bay leaf,cinnamon stick and cardamoms .Saute them for 30 seconds in medium heat.Now add the chopped onions and saute till they become soft.Add onion paste,garlic paste,ginger paste and saute for 2 minutes.Now add the powdered spices(i.e turmeric powder,cumin powder,coriander powder,red chili powder) and stir fry till the oil separates from the spices.Now bring the flame down to minimum and add the curd,keep stirring continuously so that the curd does not form any lumps.
3. Now add the chicken pieces and mix well with the spices,cover the pan with a lid and let the chicken cook in its own juices in medium flame for 30 minutes.Stir occasionally so that the chicken does not stick to the pan.
4. Remove the lid and cook the chicken till it is tender.Now add the boiled rice and lentils to the pan and mix with the chicken.Cover the pan with a lid a cook for some more time in medium heat.
   Sprinkle the garam masala powder and cook for 10 to 20 more seconds.
5. Serve hot with any side dish.