The name is shared with khichdi across the subcontinent, and in Kabul kichiri means a soft, sticky rice eaten with qurut. Herat makes it differently and keeps the grains apart. Split mung beans are fried in oil until they colour and turn nutty, then cooked with soaked basmati in the broth from a pot of beef braised with turmeric, cumin, black pepper and ground black cardamom. That broth is darkened with onion fried right down until deeply brown, blended and pushed through a sieve, and the onion is where the colour of the rice comes from. The rice is heaped into a mound, given a last splash of stock through holes pressed into it, and finished under a cloth-wrapped lid. The meat goes on the platter first and the rice is piled over it.
Zone: Silk Road Table
INGREDIENTS
- 800 g basmati rice (soaked 3 to 5 hours)
- 400 g moong dal (soaked 3 to 5 hours)
- 180 ml olive oil (divided into thirds)
- 2 large onions (finely chopped, divided)
- 1 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
- 1 tbsp ground black pepper
- 1 kg lean beef chuck (in 4cm chunks)
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 1½ tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground black cardamom
- 750 ml beef stock
- 125 ml extra beef stock (for finishing)
METHOD
- Drain the rice and the moong dal separately.
- Heat a third of the oil in a frying pan over a high heat and fry the moong dal until it colours and smells nutty. Set aside.
- Put another third of the oil, half the onion, the salt, pepper, beef, turmeric, cumin, black cardamom and the 750ml stock in a pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 35 to 40 minutes, until the beef is tender.
- Meanwhile, cook the remaining onion in the last of the oil until deeply browned but not burnt. Cool, then blend to a paste.
- Lift the beef out with a slotted spoon and keep it covered. Stir the onion paste into the cooking liquid, then strain it into a jug, pressing the onion through the sieve.
- Put the fried dal and the drained rice in a large heavy pot and pour in enough of the strained broth to cover by about 2cm. Stir, and bring to the boil over a low heat, stirring, until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Heap the rice into a mound and press three holes into it with the handle of a spoon. Pour 60 to 125ml of the extra stock into the holes, depending on how cooked the grains are.
- Wrap the lid in a tea towel, folding the corners up over the top so they stay clear of the heat, and cover the pot. Cook on the lowest heat for 30 minutes.
- Lay the beef on a large platter and pile the rice over it.
NOTES
UK adaptation: Moong dal (split, husked mung beans) from any South Asian grocer or the world-food aisle. Black cardamom pods from South Asian grocers; grind the seeds yourself, since ready-ground is hard to find. Beef chuck or braising steak from any butcher. No pressure cooker: simmer the beef covered for about 2 hours, topping up with stock, until tender. A clean tea towel for the lid. Everything else widely available.
US adaptation: Moong dal and black cardamom from Patel Brothers or any Indian grocer. Beef chuck from any supermarket. Everything else widely available.
Cook’s note: Take the onion for the broth to a deep brown and stop there. Blackened onion turns the whole pot of rice bitter.
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