Navratri kitchens split in two: the ones that suffer through the fast, and the ones that look forward to this khichdi. The trick is the soak — too much water and you have starch pudding; too little and the centres stay chalk. Peanuts are the protein and the crunch. It is breakfast in Pune on a fasting day, and a perfectly good Tuesday plate the rest of the year.
Ingredients
- sabudana (tapioca pearls)1 1/2 cups
- peanuts1/2 cup, roasted and crushed
- potato1, small dice
- green chilies2, slit
- cumin seeds1 tsp
- ghee or peanut oil2 tbsp
- sendha namak or saltto taste
- lemon1
- curry leaves or coriandera handful
Method
- 1
Rinse sabudana until the water runs clearer. Soak in just enough water to sit below the surface, 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. Each pearl should crush between fingers, not turn to paste.
- 2
Toss the drained pearls with crushed peanuts and salt.
- 3
Heat ghee. Cumin, chili, potato. Cook potato until just tender. Add the sabudana. Stir on medium 5 minutes until the pearls look translucent, not sticky glue.
- 4
Finish with lemon and herbs. Eat at once.
