Tomato and spinach kitchari

Kitchari is a spiced mixture of rice and lentils cooked to a sort of porridge consistency and is a traditional Ayurvedic (Indian) dish. I have no idea if this is an authentic recipe or even vaguely resembles one to be honest. I stumbled across the recipe on the BBC Good Food website one day when all I really had in my fridge were some tomatoes and all the usual rices and pulses that I tend to have in the back of my drawers.  It’s always pleasing to find a winner of a recipe and make something tasty from seemingly nothing and so I thought I’d share the recipe. The only change I’ve made really is that I used frozen spinach and slightly tweaked the quantities of some of the ingredients (I always like extra garlic in most recipes) but you can find the original recipe here.

Serves 4

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 130g basmati rice

• 200g dried split red lentils

• 3tbsp olive oil

• 1 onion, finely diced

• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely grated

• 3 garlic gloves, crushed

• 2 tsp turmeric

• 2tsp ground coriander

• 2tsp cumin seeds

• 1-2tsp medium chilli powder

• 1.2 litres vegetable stock

• 150g cherry tomatoes

• 200g frozen spinach

• 1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped

• Small handful fresh coriander, chopped (optional)

• Chapatis to serve (optional)

Instructions

1. Rinse the rice and lentils in cold, running in water. I usually rinse about 3 times till the water is relatively clear. Set aside.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large sauce pan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt then fry for around 10 minutes on medium heat until the onions have some colour to them.

3. Add the grated ginger and crush the garlic and stir in to the pan as well.

4. Add the turmeric, ground coriander, half the cumin seeds and the chilli powder and fry for 1 minute.

5. Add the rice and lentils along with the stock, bring to a simmer then cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and leave gently simmering for 20 minutes. Stir the pan occasionally so the lentils and rice do not catch at the bottom.  The lentils and rice mixture should break down and start to look quite creamy/a bit mushy.

6. Add the frozen spinach and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, stir occasionally and the spinach should thaw.

7. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5-10 more minutes until the tomatoes start to soften.

8. Heat a small frying pain with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and add the remaining cumin seeds, cook for about a minute. The seeds should start to fry and release their aroma. They will darken but try not to let them blacken and burn. It may be tempting to skip this step but I would suggest you don’t as the seeds and oil adds loads of flavour as well as some extra colour and interest to the finished dish.

9. Spoon the lentils and rice mixture in to serving bowls, drizzle over the cumin oil and seeds and top with some chilli.  If you happen to have any fresh coriander to hand, a little sprinkle wouldn’t go amiss either.  

10. Serve with some warm chapatis or rotis.

Now that’s what I call a vibrant yet comforting rice and lentil dish!