Palak Khichdi is a wholesome, green, protein-packed variation of traditional dal khichdi. The bold garlic (lehsuni) tadka is the highlight of this spinach khichdi recipe.
I first fell in love with this khichdi recipe while testing recipes for my debut cookbook – The 100 Best Curries for your Instant Pot. And it became one of the first few recipes I finalized for the cookbook.
What I LOVE about palak khichdi is
- it has spinach, moong dal, and rice making it a balanced meal
- a happy and healthy transformation of regular dal khichdi
- you can easily make it in an instant pot or pressure cooker
- a fantastic recipe to include spinach in everyday meal
- a strong flavour of garlic, cumin, and ghee
I am sharing a simple method to make palak khichdi in a traditional stovetop pressure cooker. You can grab a copy of my cookbook to learn how to make lehsuni spinach khichdi in an instant pot.
Ingredients Required
Dal: You need yellow moong dal (dried yellow moong beans)
Rice: Uncooked, short to medium-grain white rice. Do not use basmati rice for making khichdi.
Spinach: This palak khichdi is best made with fresh spinach leaves.
Garlic is added twice in this khichdi recipe, once in spinach puree and the second in tempering (tadka).
Oil: A khichdi tastes best when cooked in pure ghee. For a vegan khichdi, you can use refined oil or coconut oil.
Spices: Cumin (jeera), Cinnamon Stick, Dried Red Chillies, Asafoetida (hing), Red Chilli Powder, Garam Masala
Other Ingredients: Ginger, Green Chilli, Salt, Water
How To Get Bright Green Color
The perfect blanching of the spinach gives khichdi its bright green colour.
- Step 1: To blanch the spinach first, clean it and rinse with water to remove dirt particles. Next, place a bowl of ice-cold water ready.
- Step 2: Boil water in a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt (image 1). Once the water starts boiling, add the cleaned spinach leaves to the hot water (image 2). Cook for about 40 – 50 seconds until the colour of the leaves turns bright green. Turn off the heat.
- Step 3: Transfer the leaves immediately to the bowl of ice-cold water ( image 4). This step stops the cooking process and retains the leaves’ green colour.
After this last step, you can use the blanched spinach leaves to make a puree. You can use this spinach puree to make palak puri, palak egg curry or other Indian dishes like palak paneer.
- Step 4: Make a smooth puree of blanched spinach, green chilli, ginger, and garlic using one to two tablespoons of water.
How To Make Khichdi
Step 1: Combine dal and rice in a bowl. Rinse them with water 2 – 3 times. Soak them in water for 15 minutes.
Step 2: After 15 minutes, drain all the water from the soaked dal and rice. Transfer them to a pressure cooker. Add salt, asafoetida (hing), and cinnamon stick.
Step 3: Add water. Pressure Cook for 2 whistles over low heat. Release the steam manually.
Step 4: Open the lid, add spinach puree, and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat. Meanwhile prepare the tadka.
Step 5: For tempering, heat ghee, add dried red chillies, cumin seeds, and sliced garlic. Fry over low heat till garlic turn light golden. Turn off the heat.
Step 6: Pour lehsuni tadka over the palak khichdi. Stir to combine.
Palak Khichdi is ready to serve.
Serving Suggestion
Palak Khichdi is one pot Indian main course dish. It is an ultimate comfort food that does not require side dishes.
However, here are a few of my favourite Indian condiments I enjoy with my bowl of khichdi – kachumber salad, mango pickle, fried papad, and plain curd.
Store the leftover khichdi in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days. However, the bright green colour of the khichdi starts changing to deep green after a day. But the taste remains delicious.
Reheat in a microwave or a stovetop pan. Add ¼ cup of water while reheating to get the desired consistency.
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Lehsuni Palak Khichdi Recipe
- Saucepan
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 Cup white rice (short to medium grain)
- ⅓ Cup yellow moong dal
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
- 2 ½ Cup water
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala (get recipe)
Ingredients For Spinach Puree
- 2 Cup spinach leaves (palak)
- 1 green chilli
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 4 garlic cloves
Ingredients For Tempering (Tadka):
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- 1 tablespoon fine chopped or sliced garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 4 dried red chillies (preferably Kashmiri Red Chilli)
Instructions
- Combine dal and rice in a bowl. Rinse them with water 2 – 3 times. Soak them in clean water for 15 minutes.
- To blanch the spinach first, clean it and rinse with water to remove dirt particles. Next, place a bowl of ice-cold water ready.
- Boil water in a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt. Once the water starts boiling, add the cleaned spinach leaves to the hot water. Cook for about 40 – 50 seconds until the colour of the leaves turns bright green. Turn off the heat.
- Transfer the leaves immediately to the bowl of ice-cold water. This step stops the cooking process and retains the leaves green colour.
- Make a smooth puree of blanched spinach, green chilli, ginger, and garlic using one to two tablespoons of water. Keep it aside.
- Drain all the water from the soaked dal and rice. Transfer them to a pressure cooker. Add salt, asafoetida (hing), water, and cinnamon stick. Pressure Cook for two whistles over low heat. Release the steam manually.
- Open the lid, add spinach puree, and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat. Meanwhile prepare the tadka.
- For tempering, heat ghee, add dried red chillies, cumin seeds, and sliced garlic. Fry over low heat till garlic turn light golden. Turn off the heat.
- Pour lehsuni tadka over the palak khichdi. Stir to combine.
- Lehsuni Palak Khichdi is ready to serve.
Recipe Notes:
- After adding spinach puree do not cook the khichdi for too long. Simmer over low heat only for 5 – 6 minutes for flavours to combine.
- Blanching spinach removes its raw taste and give the puree a beautiful green colour.
- If the khichdi is too thick, add more water while simmering it to get the desired consistency.
- This is a medium spicy khichdi. Adjust the quantity of red and green chilli to get the desired level of spiciness.
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