Brown Rice Spinach Kichadi

Posting another recipe after a longtime.  It's getting really hard to blog with kids activities and school routine.  Weekday mornings are usually very hectic with getting the kids ready for school and packing lunchboxes. My pressure cooker and Instapot are my busy day mornings lifesavers.  At my house, both the kids and my hubby prefer one-pot rice dishes. We have been giving the kids brown rice for lunch as well. I usually make fried rice or mixed rice varieties with brown basmati rice. My favorite brown rice is Sona Masuri brown rice these days. The cooked rice is very soft and tastes almost similar to white rice. The brand that I typically use is 24 Mantra Organic rice, which is available in most of the Indian grocery stores close by to us.

This is a very easy dish, all made into a one-pot and takes a few minutes to assemble. Kichadis are typically served hot with any spicy side dishes like potato fry, pickle, pappads etc. I usually pack the lunches in thermos for the kids and it stays warm until lunch and hubby usually warms up his lunch in microwave at work.

Ingredients:
1. Rice, 1-1/2 cups. I have used Sona Masuri Brown rice here.
2. Spinach, 1 big bunch.
3. Garlic, 3 pods.
4. Peeled small onions, 1 cup.
5. Curry leaves, 1 handful.
6. Toor dhal, 1/2 cup.
7. Mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon.
8. Cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon.
9. Salt, as per taste.
10. Ghee, 2 tablespoons.
11. Turmeric powder, 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Bayleaves, 2.

Preparation:
Wash the spinach well and chop into big pieces. Puree them with little water and keep aside. In a pressure cooker or Instant pot, add a teaspoon of ghee and once the ghee is hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds, and bayleaves and let it splutter. Then add the small onions, crushed garlic, and curry leaves and saute until the onions are tender. Now add the rice, dhal, 3 cups of water, purred spinach, turmeric powder, and salt and cook it for 3 whistles for up to 12 to15 minutes.  I put it on the pressure cook mode on IP for 15 minutes. Once the pressure is released, mix the rice well and add more ghee if preferred. Serve hot with any spicy side dishes or pappads.