Khichdo Recipe:
Khichdo (sweet version of dalia) is a nutritious and heavenly delicious Gujarati sweet dish prepared from cracked wheat(dalia), milk and lots of dry fruits. In Gujarat, people celebrate festivals like Makar Sankranti (Uttarayan – a kite festival) by preparing, eating and sharing homemade sweet khichdo.
Preparation Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 25 minutes.
Serves: 3 servings
Ingredients:
| 1/4 cup Cracked Wheat (dalia/wheat fada) |
| 1 tablespoon Chana Dal, optional |
| 1 tablespoon Toor Dal (tuvar dal/ arahar dal), optional |
| 1/4 cup Milk |
| 1 tablespoon Ghee |
| 4 tablespoon (1/4 cup) Sugar (or less, according to taste) |
| A pinch of Cardamom Powder |
| A pinch of Nutmeg Powder, optional |
| A pinch of Clove Powder, optional |
| 4-5 Raisins (kismis) |
| 4-5 Cashew nuts (Kaju), chopped |
| 4-5 Almonds (badam), chopped |
Directions:
1. Cracked wheat is known as dalia and wheat fada in some regions. It is easily available in grocery stores.
2. Wash 1/4 cup cracked wheat (dalia/fada), 1 tablespoon tuvar dal, and 1 tablespoon chana dal and soak them in water for an hour.
3. Drain excess water from soaked cracked wheat, chana dal, tuvar dal and add them in a 2-3 liter capacity pressure cooker. Add 1 cup of water and close the lid.
4. Pressure cook it for 4-whistles over medium flame. Turn off the flame and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid, as you can see the cracked wheat is cooked and turned soft.
5. Add 1/4 cup milk and 4 tablespoons sugar (or to taste).
6. Mix well and cook it over medium flame until mixture turns thick for around 3-4 minutes. Stir in between occasionally to prevent sticking.
7. As you can see in the photo, the mixture has started to thicken now.
8. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee, a pinch of cardamom powder, a pinch of nutmeg powder, a pinch of clove powder, and half of the dry fruits (4-5 raisins, 4-5 almonds, 4-5 cashew nuts). Mix well and cook for a minute.
9. Turn off the flame. Garnish Gujarati khichdi (sweet dalia) with the remaining dry fruits and serve hot or chilled.
Tips and Variations:
- Add the spices powder (cardamom, nutmeg, and clove) according to your taste.
- If you don’t want to add chana dal and toor dal, add 2 tablespoons more cracked wheat instead of it.
Taste: Sweet
Serving Ideas: Serve it on uttarayan day with peanut chikki and undhiyu. It can also be served as alone as a dessert.