Prasādam recipe
Kicharī with rice, mung dal and vegetables
Kicharī is the first thing almost every devotee learns to cook: one pot, cheap ingredients and a result that agrees with everyone. It is a complete meal, because it combines grain and pulse, and it takes whatever vegetables you have at home.
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- ½ cup split mung dal (yellow mung lentils, skinned)
- 6 cups water
- 2 cups chopped vegetables: carrot, cauliflower, courgette or green beans
- 2 tablespoons ghī or butter
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- Chopped fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon to serve
Method
- Wash the rice and dal together in several changes of water, until the water runs clear. Drain.
- Heat the ghī in a heavy-based pot. Add the cumin and, when it starts to brown, add the ginger, asafoetida and turmeric. Stir for a few seconds.
- Add the vegetables and fry them for two minutes.
- Add the rice and dal, stir for a minute so they take on the spices, and pour in the water.
- When it comes to the boil, lower the heat, half-cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the dal breaks down and it turns creamy. If it dries out, add hot water.
- Salt at the end, sprinkle with coriander and serve with a squeeze of lemon.
It thickens as it cools. If you like it looser, add another cup of water.
Before eating
In Vaishnava cooking you don’t taste the food while cooking: Krishna is the first to taste it. Serve a portion on a plate kept for Him, offer it and then share it. The steps are in How to offer it at home and the prayers in Mantras and prayers.