Khichdi is the ultimate comfort food. This rice and lentil dish has become really trendy recently but all the authentic flavors are still here in this Quinoa Khichdi. Add quinoa and make it even healthier while keeping all the comfort.
Ingredients for Easy Instant Pot Quinoa Khichdi:
Quinoa– This recipe includes more quinoa than lentils to make it feel like you are still getting all the carbs and textures of rice. White quinoa is used in this recipe may be able to use a different color quinoa but I have found that red quinoa sometimes comes out drier so you may need more water.
Lentils– This recipe uses yellow (moong dal) lentils and orange (masoor dal) lentils. You would probably be fine using all of one or the other. For this recipe, neither involves soaking the lentils before cooking.
Garlic and Ginger– According to my mom, it would not be khichdi without these. I used ginger paste but feel free to use the equivalent of fresh ginger.
Tomatoes and Onion– While some khichdi include a lot of vegetables, this one keeps is simple and tasty with the two most basic Indian curry vegetables.
Cinnamon and Cloves– They add a good layer of flavor to all the more basic ingredients above.
Tips for making Easy Instant Pot Quinoa Khichdi:
Adjust the water based on how watery or stewy a texture you want your khichdi. If you add more water make sure to adjust the salt as well.
Feel free to add ghee when serving if desired. I did not add it here to keep the quinoa khichdi vegan.
Serving Khichdi
Serve with papadum and yogurt on the side to make it a complete meal. To make it an even more complete meal, serve with our Tomato Rasam.
Quinoa Khichdi
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Quinoa
- 1/2 Cup Yellow moong dal and red masoor dal. 1/4 cup of moong dal and 1/4 cup red masoor dal is ideal but 1/2 cup of either is fine as well.
- 1 Small Onion Chopped medium or small.
- 1 Small Tomato Chopped small.
- 3 Cloves Garlic Minced. If you want to add an extra clove that should be fine.
- 2 Tsp Ginger paste Fresh minced ginger is fine too.
- 2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Tblsp Oil
- 1 Tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 1/2 Cups Water Use 2 cups for a drier khichdi.
- Few Pinches Asafoetida
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
Instructions
- Add the oil, asafoetida, cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon stick to the instant pot and turn it on to Saute.
- One the seeds start sputtering a bit, add the onions.
- Let the onions cook for a few minutes, stirring often.
- Add the quinoa, dal and tomatoes and give it a few stirs to toast the quinoa and dal.
- Add the water, turmeric, garlic, ginger paste and salt.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure it is sealed.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual 6 minutes.
- When it is done cooking, quick release. Stir in ghee if desired and serve.
Make it a complete meal. This Easy Instant Pot Quinoa Khichdi would go great with our Masala Chaat Smashed Potatoes:
Masala Chaat Smashed Potatoes – (lovelylentils.com)
