Khichra

The same pot as haleem with the meat left in chunks.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg mutton, in 3 cm cubes off the bone
• 250 g pounded wheat, soaked overnight
• 100 g chana dal
• 100 g toor dal
• 80 g masoor dal
• 80 g moong dal
• 4 onions, sliced and fried brown
• 3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 6 tablespoons ghee
• 2 teaspoons salt
• a handful of mint leaves
• 2 limes, in wedges

Method

1. IT IS THE SAME POT AS HALEEM WITH THE MEAT LEFT IN CHUNKS, and its article states that plainly rather than leaving it to be inferred: KHICHRA AND HALEEM ARE VERY SIMILAR DISHES; GROUND MEAT IS USED IN HALEEM WHILE IT IS LEFT AS CHUNKS IN KHICHRA. Everything that follows from that is a cook's decision: the meat is cubed off the bone so the pieces survive, and the mashing is done to the GRAIN and not to the pot.
2. WHICH MEANS FOUR DALS RATHER THAN TWO, BECAUSE THE GRAIN HAS TO CARRY THE TEXTURE. Its article's list is GOAT MEAT, BEEF, LENTILS AND SPICES, SLOWLY COOKED TO A THICK PASTE -- and the paste here is the lentils and the wheat around the meat, not the meat itself.
3. AND ITS ARTICLE PUTS IT IN A FAMILY, WHICH IS WORTH KNOWING AT THE STOVE. IT IS THE MEAT-BASED VARIANT OF KHICHDI, A RICE DISH FROM THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT -- so the grain is not a thickener here, it is the other half of the dish, and it should taste seasoned in its own right before the meat is folded in.
4. COOK THE MEAT SEPARATELY FROM THE GRAIN AND BRING THEM TOGETHER LATE. This is the practical consequence of chunks: meat left in with the dals for three hours falls apart whatever you intend. Braise the cubes with the onions, ginger, garlic and ground spices for an hour and a half until tender, and keep them aside.
5. COOK THE WHEAT AND THE FOUR DALS TO A THICK PORRIDGE ON THEIR OWN. Two hours, topped up with water, mashed with a masher until there are no whole lentils left. This is the part that wants the paste its article describes.
6. THEN FOLD THE MEAT THROUGH AND DO NOT STIR IT HARD AGAIN. Twenty minutes together over the lowest heat so the flavours meet. Fold with a spatula, lifting rather than beating.
7. THE GARAM MASALA GOES IN AT THE END. Its article names spices without listing them; two teaspoons of garam masala stirred in off the heat keeps the top notes that three hours of cooking removes.
8. SERVED WITH FRIED ONIONS, MINT AND LIME. Its article notes it is cooked all year and particularly at the Ashura of Muharram, and that in Pakistan beef haleem and khichra are sold from stalls in most cities throughout the year.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes