Instant Pot Khichdi with Mung Bean Sprouts

A simple, flavorful Instant Pot Khichdi with Mung Bean Sprouts is just what you need to comfort you on a rushed weeknight. A vegan, soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free recipe.

You might also like these recipes for masala khichdi, sorghum khichdi and sabudana khichdi.

Sprouting beans is an easy task in your summer kitchen. You can sprout all kinds of legumes and grains, and some take longer than others, but if you're new to sprouting, mung beans are what you want to start with.

Mung beans sprout easily -- a day and a half in a summer kitchen is more than enough -- and the simple, hands-off process sends this already healthy legume's healthfulness into the stratosphere. Among many benefits, sprouting beans can increase their protein content and antioxidant ratios. They can also keep blood sugar under control and improve heart health and digestion. All of this for so little work.

I will not give you a primer on sprouting because I've already done it before in this post on my Sprouted Mung Bean Salad. While there are all sorts of contraptions you can buy to sprout beans, you really need nothing more than what you probably already have on hand -- a bowl, a colander and a kitchen towel.

Putting sprouts into khichdi is a great idea, because it amps up up the nutritional value of a dish that's already, quintessentially, healthy.

A khichdi is the ultimate Indian comfort food. Variously called a khitchri, khichuri, and even kedgeree (a British spin-off), it is basically a dish that combines, in one pot, a protein and a grain. In India that's a legume and rice (although the British had to spoil a good thing by adding fish to it).

While a khichdi often gets cooked when someone's sick, or down, or just doesn't feel like cooking, don't let that color your judgment about the deliciousness of this dish. It's a tasty and easy meal for anytime, and a lifesaver for me on days when I need to get a healthy meal on the table without much time. It travels well, so it makes a delicious and wholesome lunchbox meal as well, for you or for the little one.

There are as many versions of khichdi as there are cooks, and at its most basic a khichdi can be made of just rice, lentils and salt, period. But this recipe I have for you today is more flavorful with spices. It goes from scratch to done in under 30 minutes, and you'll be making it over and over, I promise.

How to make Instant Pot Khichdi

• Start a day and a half before by soaking 1 cup of dry mung beans and sprouting them. If you're new to sprouting, follow the instructions for sprouting in this recipe.
• Before you start cooking the khichdi, soak 1 ½ cups of rice in a bowl, covered with at least an inch of water, for 30 minutes. This is not absolutely necessary, but it ensures that the rice grains are long and separate after they cook.
•  Heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in the Instant Pot set to the "saute" function. Add 1 teaspoon of cumin and as it starts to darken, add a 1-inch piece of cinnamon, 4 green cardamom pods (whole), six cloves and ½ teaspoon of turmeric to the pot. Stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the rice (drained) and the mung bean sprouts.
• Add salt and ground black pepper to taste.
• Add 4 cups of water and give everything a good mix. Turn off the saute function, cover the instant pot with the lid, and set to cook on the "rice" function.
• Once cooking is done, you can release the Instant Pot manually after 10 minutes, or wait for it to release naturally. Once you open the lid, use a fork to fluff the rice grains. Serve hot.

Serve

• Because a khichdi by itself is something of a blank slate, flavor-wise, you need to serve it with something that's spicy. A potato curry is a classic, and this Easy, Spicy Potato Curry is a perfect pairing for the khichdi. The curry takes no more than 10 minutes to put together and under 30 minutes to cook, so you could be making it while your khichdi cooks in the Instant Pot.
• You can also serve the khichdi with a spicy vegetable curry, like this Vegetable Korma I shared with you recently.
• If you have absolutely no time, do what most Indians do and serve the khichdi with an Indian pickle and poppadum. It'll be delicious.

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