Khichadi : Tasty And Healthy diet

I love Khichadi. I have gotten this Khichadi love in inheritance from my father Shree Gajendrabhai Pandya.There are so many varieties of Khichadi. I love green gram or mung daal Khichadi, tuver daal (pigeon pea) Khichadi and yellow split gram or mung daal Khichadi. Like my grand mother (dadi, whom we called 'Mota Baa') and my wife, many believe that khichadi should not be made on auspicious days like Diwali, but I love to eat Khichadi every night. Why? Because, I believe that it is not just tasty but healthy diet also.And even babies are also given Khichadi probably as first food. Reason is that it is so easy to digest, it also heals and soothes the intestinal wall.

As per article on http://www.elephantjournal.com/, Khichadi is very healthy food. The reason is explained in article.

In making of Khichadi, the rice has to be cooked with a legume. Traditionally, that legume is green gram (mung daal), pigeon pea or split yellow gram (mung dal). These are the only legumes that are classified as 'vata balancing' in Ayurveda. This means that, unlike every other type of beans or lentils, they will not produce any intestinal gas.

Split yellow mung beans also have their husk naturally removed. When they are split, the husk, which is very hard to digest and gas producing, naturally falls off. This process naturally renders them much easier to cook, digest, and assimilate.

The combination of rice and beans has been a staple around the world for 10,000 years, and for good reason. You have probably heard the term “complete protein,” but let’s take a minute to really understand what that means.

There are 20 amino acids that combine with one another to make the proteins the body needs. 10 of them, the body can synthesize on its own. The other 10, called essential amino acids, the body does not make, meaning we must get it from our foods. Animal proteins are 'complete' in that they contain all ten essential amino acids, but plant foods need to be combined to make a 'complete protein'.

Rice, like most grains, is very low in the amino acid lysine. As a result, if you live on grains alone, you will likely become protein deficient. Legumes and lentils, on the other hand, have lots of lysine, but they are generally low in methionine, tryptophan and cystine. Fortunately, grains are high in these three amino acids.

So the marriage of rice and beans, as found in Khichadi, has been providing the 10 essential amino acids and making complete proteins for cultures around the world for thousands of years. For cultures that have subsisted on a plant-based diet, this marriage is often what allows their diet to be nutritionally sustainable.

With 95 percent of the body’s serotonin produced in the gut, it is clear we process our stress through the intestinal wall. Chronic stress will irritate the intestinal wall and compromise digestion, the ability to detoxify through the gut, and cope with stress. During a Khichadi cleanse, the digestive system can heal. Eating just Khichadi as a “mono diet” allows much of the digestion to be at rest during the cleanse, providing the nutrition needed to heal the gut and nourish the body.

The state of fat metabolism facilitates a deep inner calm, so, it is also considered as Satvik Ahar (sentient food or diet) and for this reason, Khichadi was also fed to monks and ascetics to help create a sense of stillness in which we gain greater access to old toxic emotional and behavior patterns. This is also why Khichadi is the food of choice of Panchakarma, Ayurveda’s deepest detox retreat.

Now I reproduce recipe of Khichadi. There are so many recipes available on website. But I reproduce one which I liked. So you may google to find out your favourite recipe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu9hgdRJBL8

Ingredient: 
500 grams/17.6 oz rice
400 grams/14 oz moong dal or split green gram
2 tablespoons turmeric powder
1 teaspoon asafoetida
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons ghee
500 ml/17 fl oz water
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Method:
Step 1. Cleaning the Rice and Split Pea Gram
Pour the rice into a large mixing bowl.
Add the split green gram to the rice.
Clean and wash the mixture of rice and green gram under running water.

Step 2. Frying with Ghee/Oil
Add ghee/oil to the base of a pressure cooker.
Add cumin seeds. Cook over low heat until they splutter.
Sprinkle asafoetida powder over the seeds. Mix well.
Add turmeric powder and mix.
Remove the water from the rice and green gram.
Add the washed rice and green gram to the pressure cooker.
Mix well with the spatula. Fry for a few minutes till the ghee covers the rice and green gram.
Add water. The level should be above the mixture of rice and green gram.

Step 3. Pressure Cooking
Cover the lid of the pressure cooker. Cook under pressure till there are two whistles (approximately six minutes of cooking under pressure).
Turn off the heat source. Let the pressure settle down.
Open the lid of the pressure cooker. Check whether the rice grains and green gram pulses are cooked enough.
Add more water to get a thick consistency without separating the grains. Cook for a few minutes more
Add salt and mix well.
Serve with curds or pickle. Add ghee before serving.