Millet Khichdi is a nutritious and healthy dish made with millet, lentils or dal, vegetables, and mild spices. This is the best option if you're looking for an easy millet recipe. For this millet khichdi, I have used little millet, also known as samai or sama rice. So, we can also call it little millet khichdi or samai khichdi.
This Millet Khichdi is
- Easy-to-prepare
- Affordable meal
- Gluten-free
- Vegan (avoid adding ghee)
- Ready in no time (just plan ahead and soak millet overnight)
- Pressure cooker friendly
When there were fasting days, like guru purnima, my mother used to make sama chaler khichuri. However, I was not familiar with the term millet at the time.
Since I started blogging, I've learned a lot about millets and their health benefits. Gradually, I incorporated varieties of millets into my diet. The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
So, I have planned to share more millet recipes here.
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Little Millet Khichdi Ingredients
Little Millet: The star ingredient of the dish.
Lentil or Dal: I have used moong dal or petite yellow lentils for this khichdi.
Vegetables: I always prefer to add vegetables in khichdi. I have added beans, carrot and potato.
Others: Apart from the above ingredients I have used ginger paste, turmeric powder, salt, green chilli. Ghee (clarified butter) is optional.
How to make Zero Oil Millet Khichdi
Millet khichdi is simple to make, and I'll walk you through the process here. This khichdi can be made in two ways. First, I'll share an oil-free millet khichdi recipe. This zero-oil khichdi recipe is ideal for weight watchers. You can skip the ghee on top of the khichdi.
No-Oil Khichdi
In a mixing bowl, combine millet and moong dal. Soak them in water overnight after thoroughly washing them.
Drain the water the next day and place the millet and dal in a pressure cooker. In the pressure cooker, combine all of the vegetables.
Now stir in the ginger paste, green chilli, and turmeric powder. Close the pressure cooker after adding the required water and salt.
Cook for at least three whistles before allowing the pressure to naturally release.
After that, serve the hot khichdi with ghee on top.
Khichdi with 1 tablespoon Oil
You can also make this khichdi in another way.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds or curry leaves and mustard seeds in it. Once they start sputtering, add vegetables and stir for couple of minutes.
Now add ginger paste, turmeric powder, green chilli and salt. Combine well.
Next add soaked dal and millet (soaked overnight) into the pressure cooker. Add required water and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Allow for 2-3 whistles and wait for the release of pressure. Finally, serve hot millet khichdi drizzling ghee on top.
Serving Suggestions
Khichdi is a wholesome meal, and you don't need any sides with it. However, you can serve millet khichdi with papad, pickle and curd.
Substitutions
When serving, use vegan butter rather than ghee if you follow a vegan diet.
Variations
You can use kodo, proso, barnyard, pearl millet instead of little millet. There may be a slight variation in cooking time.
I have added potato, carrot and beans in the khichdi. You can add cauliflower, green peas, broccoli, spinach and more.
I prefer to have this millet khichdi topped with ghee hence I don't add any tadka (tempering). However, you can heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, add curry leaves, mustard seeds and dry red chilli. Allow them to sputter and add the tempering on top of millet khichdi.
You can make a spicy version of khichdi by adding red chilli powder and chopped green chilli. If you do not prefer chilli, you can add crushed pepper too.
Storage
Serving fresh and hot khichdi is always preferable. However, you can store leftover khichdi in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a day or two. Later you can reheat it in microwave or stovetop by adding little water into it.
Top tip
Do not forget to soak millets before cooking. It is always recommended to soak millets overnight to reduce the phytic acid content from millet thereby, improve the nutritional value of cereal.
FAQ
Millet is an ancient grain rich in vital nutrients and is grown all over the world as cereal crop or grain for both animal feed and human consumption. India is the world's top millet producer, followed by a few other countries in Asia and Africa.
There are different types of millets. The most common millet types are finger millet, foxtail millet, little millet, kodo millet, pearl millet, sorghum millet, proso millet, etc.
More Recipes
Millet Khichdi | Little Millet Khichdi
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker
Materials
- ½ cup Little Millet
- ¼ cup Moong Dal
- 1 no Carrot, small cut into small pieces
- 3-4 no Beans cut into 1/2 inch
- 1 no Potato, small cut into cubes
- 1 or 2 Green Chilli
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Paste
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Ghee optional
Instructions
- Take millet and moong dal in a bowl. Wash them thoroughly and soak them in water overnight.
- Next day drain the water and take millet and dal in a pressure cooker.
- Add all the vegetables in the pressure cooker.
- Now add ginger paste, green chilli and turmeric powder.
- Add required water and salt in the cooker, close the pressure cooker.
- Cook for at least 3 whistles, then let the pressure release normally.
- Once done, serve the hot khichdi putting ghee on top.
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