There are several kinds of millets common in India, of which ragi, bajra, and jowar are most popular as grains and also as flour to make rotis and chapatis. Growing up I heard of these grains, but it is not common in Bengali cuisine, so it was never made in our household, not even in our extended family. Over the last few months, I have been investigating Ayurveda and have come across mention of these grains for their various health benefits. So my curiosity has been aroused. I bought some jowar from the local Sprouts Market and have been experimenting with the grain. I often just boil it to a mush and add ghee and salt and eat it like porridge for breakfast. I have made upma, and some other versions of khichdis. I have grown to like the grain.
Instead of cooking with the spices in the khichdi, this time I add the spices after the fact as a tadka. The whole cumin and fennel seeds when fried retain their crunchiness even after being added to the hot moist khichdi. With every spoonful of khichdi in your mouth, these spices burst their flavor and it feels very delicious.
To do a variation of this recipe you can add spinach or other greens, or other veggies like potatoes and cauliflower and beans. You can add grated carrots and then blend it into a soup. You can add nutmeg to give it a slight sweet flavor. For a another variation, you can cook it with coconut milk, which will make this taste extremely different and creamy. Lots of options for variations!
Ingredients
For Khichdi
1 cup Green Moong Dal
1 cup Jowar (Sorghum)
1-inch ginger, minced
salt to taste (rock salt preferred, better flavor and minerals)
Turmeric
water
For Tadka
1 tBsp Ghee
a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp (or more if you like it hot) cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
For garnish
Cilantro, minced
Lemon juice
Process
1. Wash the lentils and grains with several changes of water, till the water runs clear.
2. Put the grains in a pressure cooker, add water, salt, ginger, and turmeric and cook the lentils and sorghum.
3. In a hot tawa, heat up ghee, add hing. Then add all the other spices one by one and let them get fried, but not burned.
4. Add the hot ghee-spice mix (tadka) to the lentil-sorghum porridge, mix well. Add more salt if needed. Stir in the minced cilantro.
5. Before serving, sprinkle some lemon juice.
Notes:
I offer the following notes from what I learned in Ayurveda books for your consideration. I am not a nutrition expert nor a certified practitioner/vaidya, but what I have gathered about the benefits of the ingredients in this recipe seem to make sense to my engineer/science brain, so I accept them. You do not have to accept them, just accept the flavors, it is enough!
We have been demonizing ghee in the modern diet, because we have grown to believe all fat is bad. In Ayurveda, it appears that ghee and honey are two very important foods that aid digestion and also work at aiding toxin release pathways on a tissue level. Maybe there is research there to prove it, or at least there is someone studying this in some corner of the world. Anyway, after reading quite a bit about ghee and honey, I do not fear them as calories anymore and use them quite a bit in my daily food regimen these days.
Moong dal, especially the green variety with its skin is particularly nutritious than the skinless variety. One can do this same recipe with skinless variety. If you do that, I recommend that you dry fry (roast on a tawa without oil) the dal till it is fragrant and then wash and use it in the recipe. The flavor will be very nice. They say that moong dal is very effective in removing toxins and stagnated foods from the body, it kindles the digestive fire, reduces swelling and water retention, and cleans the liver, gallbladder, and vascular system. It helps to lose weight, relieves digestive problems, bloating, and body ache.
Jowar (sorghum) is a gluten free grain and when cooked has a texture very similar to rice. It has very high fiber content and several benefits for digestion. It is known to have a "scraping" effect on cholestrol (LDL) while keeping your colon happy. Furthermore, it is reported to have complex carbohydrates that inhibit the absorption of starch by the body, which in turn can help regulate insulin and glucose levels in the body. They say it is an excellent grain for diabetics. It also has good amounts of copper, iron, magnesium, calcium and niacin (B3). Bottom line for me is that I love rice and I want to shed some pounds. No other grain has yet to given me the comparable satisfaction of eating rice - I have tried wild rice, brown rice, quinoa, couscous, oats, etc. - sorghum seems to be the best option out there at the moment.
As for the various spices in the recipe, as with every spice in an Indian recipe, each of them are there to enhance the taste but also for a health reason - to balance the doshas.
For balancing Kapha dosha: ghee, ginger, garam masala
For balancing Pitta dosha: ghee, fennel
For balancing Vata dosha: ghee, ginger, garam masala, lemon juice
If you think you have a particular imbalance in one or two doshas, increase or decrease the spice amounts to suit your profile. If you don't care about the doshas, don't, it really does not matter. Just eat a good delicious hearty porridge because it is oh-so-yummy!!
Instead of cooking with the spices in the khichdi, this time I add the spices after the fact as a tadka. The whole cumin and fennel seeds when fried retain their crunchiness even after being added to the hot moist khichdi. With every spoonful of khichdi in your mouth, these spices burst their flavor and it feels very delicious.
To do a variation of this recipe you can add spinach or other greens, or other veggies like potatoes and cauliflower and beans. You can add grated carrots and then blend it into a soup. You can add nutmeg to give it a slight sweet flavor. For a another variation, you can cook it with coconut milk, which will make this taste extremely different and creamy. Lots of options for variations!
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| Jowar-Moong Khichdi |
Ingredients
For Khichdi
1 cup Green Moong Dal
1 cup Jowar (Sorghum)
1-inch ginger, minced
salt to taste (rock salt preferred, better flavor and minerals)
Turmeric
water
For Tadka
1 tBsp Ghee
a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp (or more if you like it hot) cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
For garnish
Cilantro, minced
Lemon juice
Process
1. Wash the lentils and grains with several changes of water, till the water runs clear.
2. Put the grains in a pressure cooker, add water, salt, ginger, and turmeric and cook the lentils and sorghum.
3. In a hot tawa, heat up ghee, add hing. Then add all the other spices one by one and let them get fried, but not burned.
4. Add the hot ghee-spice mix (tadka) to the lentil-sorghum porridge, mix well. Add more salt if needed. Stir in the minced cilantro.
5. Before serving, sprinkle some lemon juice.
Notes:
I offer the following notes from what I learned in Ayurveda books for your consideration. I am not a nutrition expert nor a certified practitioner/vaidya, but what I have gathered about the benefits of the ingredients in this recipe seem to make sense to my engineer/science brain, so I accept them. You do not have to accept them, just accept the flavors, it is enough!
We have been demonizing ghee in the modern diet, because we have grown to believe all fat is bad. In Ayurveda, it appears that ghee and honey are two very important foods that aid digestion and also work at aiding toxin release pathways on a tissue level. Maybe there is research there to prove it, or at least there is someone studying this in some corner of the world. Anyway, after reading quite a bit about ghee and honey, I do not fear them as calories anymore and use them quite a bit in my daily food regimen these days.
Moong dal, especially the green variety with its skin is particularly nutritious than the skinless variety. One can do this same recipe with skinless variety. If you do that, I recommend that you dry fry (roast on a tawa without oil) the dal till it is fragrant and then wash and use it in the recipe. The flavor will be very nice. They say that moong dal is very effective in removing toxins and stagnated foods from the body, it kindles the digestive fire, reduces swelling and water retention, and cleans the liver, gallbladder, and vascular system. It helps to lose weight, relieves digestive problems, bloating, and body ache.
Jowar (sorghum) is a gluten free grain and when cooked has a texture very similar to rice. It has very high fiber content and several benefits for digestion. It is known to have a "scraping" effect on cholestrol (LDL) while keeping your colon happy. Furthermore, it is reported to have complex carbohydrates that inhibit the absorption of starch by the body, which in turn can help regulate insulin and glucose levels in the body. They say it is an excellent grain for diabetics. It also has good amounts of copper, iron, magnesium, calcium and niacin (B3). Bottom line for me is that I love rice and I want to shed some pounds. No other grain has yet to given me the comparable satisfaction of eating rice - I have tried wild rice, brown rice, quinoa, couscous, oats, etc. - sorghum seems to be the best option out there at the moment.
As for the various spices in the recipe, as with every spice in an Indian recipe, each of them are there to enhance the taste but also for a health reason - to balance the doshas.
For balancing Kapha dosha: ghee, ginger, garam masala
For balancing Pitta dosha: ghee, fennel
For balancing Vata dosha: ghee, ginger, garam masala, lemon juice
If you think you have a particular imbalance in one or two doshas, increase or decrease the spice amounts to suit your profile. If you don't care about the doshas, don't, it really does not matter. Just eat a good delicious hearty porridge because it is oh-so-yummy!!
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