Easy Instant Pot Kitchari (Indian Spiced Lentils & Rice Recipe)

This Instant Pot Kitchari is a light, wholesome dish with rice, lentils, and warming Indian spices - easy to digest and perfect for busy days. 

My Meal Pairing Tip: Pair it with a quick zucchini carrot stir fry and any tangy chutney from my Indian Chutneys collection for a comforting, well-rounded meal.

Kitchari or Khichdi is an Indian dish with rice and lentils with a porridge-like consistency. In some regions of India, this khichdi is served as the first food for babies. And in Ayurveda, Kitchari is considered as a cleansing food.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Prep work
• Detailed Steps
• Stovetop Instructions
• Recipe Notes
• Variations
• Instant pot cooking times
• What to serve with Khichdi?
• How to store Kitchari?
• FAQs
• Recipe

Ingredients

• Rice: You can use any kind of rice to make the Kitchari or Khichdi recipe. Usually, short or medium-grain rice variety is used as they release more starch and create a smooth consistency. But in this recipe, I used long grain basmati rice. You can use other grains like millet, quinoa, or even steel-cut oats to make the khichdi.
• Lentils: The traditional kitchari recipe uses yellow lentils (split yellow gram or moong dal or mung dal). As khichdi is comfort food and easy to make on even busy days, I make this dish very often, and I use different lentils like red lentils (masoor dal), brown lentils (sabut masoor dal), split green mung beans (split moong dal), pigeon peas (toor dal). The taste and texture of the dish vary accordingly.
• Veggies: I always add veggies to the khichdi to make it wholesome. Veggies like potato, carrots, pumpkin, bottle gourd, zucchini, squash, tomato, green peas, and french beans go well in this recipe. You can use leafy veggies as well. Add them at the end and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Spices: Cumin and turmeric powder are usually used to make the khichdi. To make spicy khichdi, you can use red chili powder, garam masala, freshly ground black pepper or green chili.
• Aromatics: Grated ginger or dry ginger powder flavors this dish. But you can use garlic and onion as well. 

Prep work

• There is no need to soak the rice or lentils. But I usually soak my rice and lentils if using the stovetop method to cook the kitchari. Soaking will reduce cooking time.
• If you are using millet or steel-cut oats, soaking will reduce the cooking time drastically.
• If you are not soaking the grains and lentils, wash, drain and keep them aside.
• If using veggies to make the khichdi, chop them and keep them aside.

Detailed Steps

• Start the Instant pot in saute mode and add oil.

• Once it is hot, add cumin seeds. Let them splutter.

• If you are using veggies, add them now and let them cook for a couple of minutes. 
• Add rinsed rice, lentils, turmeric powder, salt, and water to the instant pot. Mix it well and deglaze the pot if required.

• If you make masala khichdi, add red chili powder, ground coriander, grated or finely chopped ginger, and mix everything well.
• Stop the instant pot saute mode and close it with its lid.
• Seal the vent and start the Instant pot in manual or pressure cook mode and cook it for 5 minutes on high pressure.
• Once the instant pot finishes cooking, wait for 5 to 10 minutes and manually release the pressure.

• Mix the khichdi once, and the delicious Instant pot khichdi is ready to serve.

• Garnish with cilantro, and enjoy it hot.

Stovetop Instructions

• Heat a deep-bottomed pan or cooking pot.
• Once it is hot, add oil or ghee and cumin seeds.
• Let the cumin seed splutter, and then add finely chopped onions and veggies. Onions and veggies are optional, and you can skip them. If you are using veggies, let them cook for a couple of minutes.
• Now add turmeric powder, salt, and spice powders if making masala khichdi.
• Rinse the rice and lentils and add them to the pot.
• Add water and cook the kitchari over medium heat until the lentils and rice is cooked as per your liking.
• Usually, khichdi will have a thinner consistency, so adjust the water accordingly.
• Switch off the flame, garnish the khichdi with cilantro and serve it hot with the side of pickle or yogurt.

Recipe Notes

• Avoid spices and veggies if you make khichdi for people under the weather.
• Instead of rice, you can make this khichdi with other grains like millet and quinoa.
• This recipe works for only white rice, as brown rice takes more time to cook.
• You can use the pressure cooker method to make brown rice kitchari, and the cooking time will be 25 minutes on high pressure.
• I sometimes add whole spices like bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom to make the khichdi more flavorful.
• You can use fresh or frozen veggies to make the khichdi.
• I used coconut oil to make this khichdi recipe. You can use any oil or ghee (If you do not mind the recipe being vegan).

Variations

• Masala Khichdi - Regular khichdi will be a little bland. So to make it spicy, you can add spice powders like red chili powder, black pepper powder, and garam masala powder. The recipe card has ingredients and steps to make the masala khichdi. 
• Millet Khichdi - You can check my detailed recipe to make millet khichdi. Just replace rice with millet and cook it for more time. Please check the instant pot cooking times section.
• Quinoa Khichdi - Replace rice with quinoa and cook the kitchari in the same way. Rice and quinoa take the same time to cook. And cooking times will be the same. As quinoa will be bland (at least for me!) I add spice powders like red chili powder or freshly ground black pepper powder and make masala khichdi with quinoa.
• Moong dal Khichdi - Moong dal (split green gram or yellow lentils) is the most common lentils used to make the khichdi. Use yellow lentils and follow this recipe to make moong dal khichdi. You can also use whole moong dal (mung bean) to make the khichdi. The texture of the khichdi will be slightly different, and it will also take more time to cook. If using whole mung dal or mung beans, soak them for at least a couple of hours or use mung bean sprouts.
• Vegetable Khichdi - Add your choice of veggies to this khichdi recipe to make a vegetable kitchari. And if using leafy veggies, add them at the end and cook for only a couple of minutes. If using an instant pot to make the khichdi, add the chopped leafy veggies after you release the pressure and cook the kitchari in saute mode for a couple of minutes. If using baby spinach or fresh tender greens, the residual heat is enough to cook the greens.

Instant pot cooking times

What to serve with Khichdi?

Usually, khichdi is served with a pickle and yogurt. However, I like to serve it with simple salad veggies or roasted veggies.

Some vegetable side dishes that go well with this Khichdi are

Zucchini carrot stir fry

Grated carrots stir fry

Spinach and potato curry

Bell pepper stir fry

How to store Kitchari?

Kitchari tastes best when it is hot, but it keeps well for a couple of days in the refrigerator. You can freeze it in portions and use it for about three months.

Do not refreeze the thawed kitchari and use it immediately. And do not consume the kitchari if it smells or tastes differently.

FAQs

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Recipe