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Dalia-Moong Khichdi
A gentle one-pot breakfast from Uttar Pradesh homes: broken wheat and moong dal cooked soft with vegetables and finished with a cumin-ghee tadka.
- Region
- Uttar Pradesh
- Status
- Adaptation — dalia khichdi with a 1:1 ratio of dal to grain
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Prep 10 min · Cook 20 min (pressure cooker) · Total 30 min
- Serves
- 2 (about 350 g khichdi plus 100 g curd each)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Breakfast, light dinner, recovery days
- Tags
- High protein (at the threshold, with curd) · High fibre · No added sugar · Soy-free · Whey-free · Meal-prep friendly
- Allergens
- Gluten (wheat), milk
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 335 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 46 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
Headline values are per serving, as written.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per serving (with curd) | 335 | 16 g | 46 g | 8 g | 5 g | 9 g | 6 g | 5.0 g |
Good source · 5.0 g per 100 kcal. Without curd: 275 kcal, 13 g protein. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 60 g dalia (broken wheat, medium) · 60 g yellow moong dal
- 150 g vegetables: 50 g green peas, 40 g carrot, 30 g beans, 30 g tomato
- 8 g ghee (1½ tsp) · 1 tsp cumin seeds · pinch of hing · 1 tsp grated ginger · 1 green chilli · ¼ tsp turmeric · 4 g salt
- 700 ml water · 2 tbsp coriander
- Serving: 200 g curd (100 g per person)
Method
- Rinse dalia and moong dal together; soak 15 minutes (optional; it speeds cooking).
- Heat ghee in a pressure cooker on medium. Add cumin, hing, ginger and chilli for 30 seconds.
- Add vegetables and turmeric; cook 2 minutes.
- Add drained dalia and dal, water and salt. Stir.
- Pressure-cook on medium for 3 whistles (about 12 minutes). Let pressure release naturally.
- Stir well. It should be soft and porridge-like; add hot water to loosen if needed.
- Garnish with coriander and serve with curd.
Protein optimisation
- Moong dal gives 7 g per serving, dalia 3.5 g, curd 3.5 g, peas 2 g.
- Boost: replace curd with 100 g hung curd per serving (+2.5 g protein, +35 kcal), or stir in 50 g crumbled paneer per serving at the end (+9 g protein, +130 kcal, +10 g fat).
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Gujarati-style — make it with a thin kadhi poured over (see D20 for kadhi).
- Substitution: foxtail or little millet in place of dalia for a gluten-free version (soak 30 minutes).
- Storage: 2 days refrigerated; it thickens, so reheat with water.
- Food safety: cool cooked khichdi within 1 hour and refrigerate; reheat until steaming throughout.
- Meal prep: good.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com