Go Back
–+ servings
Print Recipe
4.67 from 3 votes

Easy Kitchari Recipe

Rice and Yellow Split peas cooked together and braised with tempered spices and loads of butter. Simple, delicious and comforting dish
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: ayurvedic dish, riceanddal
Servings: 4
Calories: 1412kcal

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  • 1 cup yellow split peas or mung dal
  • 4 cups water you may need a little more
  • 1&1/2 tspn turmeric
  • 1&1/2 tspn salt
  • 1 cup Basmati Rice

Tempering

  • 2 tablespoon butter ghee
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 1 tspn cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tspn mustard seeds
  • 1 sprig curry leaf
  • 4 dry chillies broken in half
  • 1/2 tspn ginger garlic paste or a pinch of ginger powder
  • pinch of black pepper

Instructions

  • Rinse dal, place it in the instant pot with 3 cups water, salt and turmeric and cook for 30 minutes. If you are cooking it on the stovetop cook it on low-medium heat until dal is soft
  • Once dal is cooked wash the Basmati rice and add it to the dal. Add another cup of water and cook until the rice is cooked. This should take about 10 minutes. For this step you can also transfer the dal to a pot, add the rice and simmer on the stovetop for about 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.
  • Heat the butter ghee on the stovetop on medium heat with a drop of oil. Add the mustard seeds and cumin and fry until it bursts.
  • Reduce heat to a low setting. Add the onion, curry leaf and dry chillies and fry until the onion is golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste if using or a pinch of ginger powder and the pepper
  • Mix it into the rice/dal mixture. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot

Notes

  1. You may need more or less water, as I mentioned previously altitude does affect the amount of water needed to cook certain dishes
  2. Butter can be used instead of butter ghee, you can add more if you wish
  3. Kitchari is best served hot when it's freshly cooked. If you are serving it later you can add a little bit of warm water before heating it up as it is meant to be a moist dish
  4. The quantity can be doubled if you are cooking for a big family. 
  5. Onion is not typically used in this dish so feel free to omit the onion if you wish
  6. Please take note that I did not soak my dal overnight so it therefore took 30 minutes. If you soak yours reduce the cooking time to 15 minutes and add a little less water. I also wanted my dal to be really smooth so I fully cooked it before adding the rice. Some people do cook the dal and rice together

Nutrition

Calories: 1412kcal | Carbohydrates: 185g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 59g | Saturated Fat: 36g | Cholesterol: 151mg | Sodium: 2711mg | Potassium: 1345mg | Fiber: 29g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 1896IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 7mg