afoona
Indian Kitchari — Spiced Rice and Lentils
Pasta & Rice

Indian Kitchari — Spiced Rice and Lentils

Kitchari — Indian rice and lentils spiced with turmeric and ginger, a nourishing comfort dish that's easy to make

⏱ 35 min🍽 4 servings 🌍 Middle Eastern👩‍🍳 Afoona🧩 2 parts
⚖ Pareve🥬 Vegetarian🌱 Vegan🌾 Gluten-free

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Caramelized Onion

  1. 1
    Rinse the rice and the lentils and drain.
    Colander
  2. 2
    Heat the oil in a pot and fry the onion over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring.
    StovePot

To assemble

  1. 3
    Add the garlic and ginger and fry 1 minute, until fragrant.
    ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
    💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
  2. 4
    To the onion in the pot, add the cumin, turmeric and coriander seeds and stir for half a minute, until fragrant.
    Stove
  3. 5
    Add the rice, the lentils and the water, season with salt and black pepper and bring to a boil.
    Stove
  4. 6
    Turn down to low, cover and simmer 18 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Turn off the heat and leave covered another 5 minutes.
    ⚙ SimmeringStoveLid
    💡The covered rest at the end finishes steaming the grain and separates the grains. Fluff with a fork before serving.
    💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
  5. 7
    Sprinkle the cilantro on top, drizzle with the lemon juice and serve.
340calories
11 gprotein
56 gcarbs
8 gfat
● protein 13%● carbs 66%● fat 21%

Per serving (305 g), of 4 servings

For the Caramelized Onion · To assemble ·

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⚖ About the ingredients

🔧 Tools needed (4) · 🍳 One cooking vessel

  • Stove · 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Portable hot plate (one weaker burner) · Camping gas stove (One burner, outdoors) · Electric pressure cooker (multicooker) (One pot, no real shallow frying)
  • Lid · Also works: Aluminum foil (tight aluminum foil) · Plate (an upside-down plate)
  • Pot · Also works: Deep skillet (sauté pan) (less liquid, faster evaporation) · 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Wok (For quick cooking)
  • Colander · Also works: Lid (a lid held slightly open over the sink, you lose a little) · Slotted spoon (for small amounts)

By the steps, as the recipe is built now: another version or addition can change the list.

🧩 Built from…

Caramelized Onion → Mujadara

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