Watanyachi Khichadi is a Peas Khichadi which is the speciality of the Pathare Prabhu community. The Khichadi is seasoned with a special sambar powder.
Pathare Prabhu is one of the Hindu communities living in Mumbai . They migrated from Gujrat during 13 th century . They are believed to be descendants of King Ashwapati who reigned in Nepal. The Pathare Prabhu community is considered to be a elite caste of Maharashtrians .
Pathare Prabhus developed a cuisine that focused a lot on seafood due to their proximity to the beaches in Mumbai. You could say they mix sea food in practically any traditional Marathi or Gujrati dish . Trust them to make the famous Undhiyu with sea food and call it PP Ghada !
Frankly speaking I had no idea that a community like Pathare Prabhu existed . It was recently while watching the Thali Utsav show on telly that I learnt about them . Ever since I have been searching vegetarian recipes of this community . I believe they closely guard their recipes and keep them a secret as a result it makes this wonderful PP cuisine inaccessible to most outsiders. It surely was a task getting these recipes but fortunately I have two recipes from this cuisine . For today I will be sharing the Watanayachi Khichadi , which is my Day 3 post under Khichadi’s.
Watana is green peas , and even though the recipe says Khichadi , it’s more like a pulao . The pulao is seasoned with a special sambar masala which is different than the South Indian version . The recipe is quite simple , but I have to admit very flavourful . The ghee and the spice powder both make this rice very special . The Khichadi can be made with any rice , though this particular recipe I have used Basmati Rice .
Fortunately I got the Pathare Prabhu sambar masala recipe too but I cut down on the chillies . This made the rice very mild , so I added some ghee and red chilly powder to the rice . The recipe here is from SK and you need not cut down the chillies !
The Batata Bhujna is a typical Maharashtrian recipe , which I shall share later . So let’s check the Watanyachi Khichadi recipe .
Watanyachi Khichadi
Ingredients
Rice
1 cup basmati rice, washed , soaked and drained
1 cup green peas
2 large onions, roughly sliced
4-5 cloves
1 inch stick of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon PP sambhar powder
Salt to taste
2-3 tbsp ghee
Sambar Powder
8 tbsp coriander seeds
11/2 tbsp cumin seeds
11/2 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp whole wheat kernels
2 tbsp split Bengal gram
16-20 whole dry chili
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 large pinch asafoeti
Method
Rice
Heat ghee and add cloves and cinnamon .
Add roughly chopped onions slices and sauté till pink .
Add green peas and rice and roast for 4-5 minutes .
Add turmeric powder , red chili powder , pathare Prabhu sambar powder and salt .
Mix well .
Add 2 cups water and cook rice till done .
Heat 1 tbsp ghee add a tsp of red chilly powder and add to the rice , mixing it well .
Serve with Batata Bhujana and Dahi.
Sambar Powder
Dry roast all ingredients one at a time except asafoetida powder.
Cool, add asafoetida powder and grind to a fine powder.
Store in an airtight container.
The Khichadi’s that I have posted this week –
Assamese Bora Saul Khichadi
Kodo Millet Khichadi
Watanyachi Khichadi
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup basmati rice washed , soaked and drained
- 1 cup green peas
- 2 large onions roughly sliced
- 4-5 cloves
- 1 inch stick of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon PP sambhar powder
- Salt to taste
- 2-3 tbsp ghee
Sambar Powder
- 8 tbsp coriander seeds
- 11/2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 11/2 tbsp mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp whole wheat kernels
- 2 tbsp split bengal gram
- 16-20 whole dry chili
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 pinch largeasafoeti
Instructions
Rice
- Heat ghee and add cloves and cinnamon .
- Add roughly chopped onions slices and sauté till pink .
- Add green peas and rice and roast for 4-5 minutes .
- Add turmeric powder , red chili powder , pathare Prabhu sambar powder and salt .
- Mix well .
- Add 2 cups water and cook rice till done .
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee add a tsp of red chilly powder and add to the rice , mixing it well .
- Serve with Batata Bhujana and Dahi.
Sambar Powder
- Dry roast all ingredients one at a time except asafoetida powder.
- Cool, add asafoetida powder and grind to a fine powder.
- Store in an airtight container.
Love the rustic setting and the brass set to present the flavorful khichdi.
This looks so flavorful and inviting with freshly ground masala powder. Wish you pass the plate to me
Peas khichdi with sambhar powder sounds super tempting. The sambhar powder must have brought the tastes of khichdi to another level.
I had some leftover Pathare Prabhu masala powder which I prepared for another recipe. I used that masala powder in this recipe and it was just so delicious. Thanks for giving this idea. I was wondering how to use up that leftover masala powder. I was adding a bit of the masala to my everyday curries to use it up and now I know how to put it to good use.