Call it by any name, a khichdi is just about the greatest Indian comfort food ever invented. In this Masala Khichdi, I add a spicy, healthier spin with tons of veggies, making an already beloved dish even more worthy of your love. Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free recipe.

A popular one-pot meal that’s cooked in just about every Indian home is a khichdi or a khichari, and those are not the only names it goes by. It’s khichuri in Bengali, pongal in Tamil, khichri in Gujarat, and kedgeree in English (yeah, as in the language spoken by the Brits). Although the Brits, somewhere in transit, made an unnecessary addition — fish — to a recipe whose vegetarian deliciousness really needs no gilding.

Today, we’ll take this recipe back to its roots but we’re going to do so with flair. A khichdi, at its most basic, is a pot of rice and lentils cooked together and it can be starkly plain (lentils, rice, salt, period). But the version I have for you today has, as the name suggests, a melange of flavorful spices and it’s enriched by the goodness of a ton of fresh vegetables. Even better, I make it with brown rice.

One of the reasons I love Masala Khichdi is that it is a true one-pot meal, not one of those dishes that pretends to be one-pot and then asks you to, erm, please serve me with this side or that or I’m just not going to taste that good! When you make a Masala Khichdi, you can rest assured that all you need is a spoon and a bowl. And if you decide to make the wise decision of serving up some poppadums alongside, well, good for you!

You can also add all kinds of veggies to the Masala Khichdi– really, use what you have on hand. I used sweet potatoes, eggplants and green peas because I had those around, but carrots and zucchini would be great here.

Before I move on to the recipe, I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who have written in recently to say you’ve cooked the recipes, or just to say hello. Your emails and the messages you leave on the blog are much valued and I read — and am thrilled by — each one. You inspire me to keep going and learning what you like helps shape Holy Cow!

Enjoy the recipe!

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Try these vegan rice recipes:

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Masala Khichdi: