Ghee tadka khichdi is rice and split yellow moong dal cooked soft with turmeric and salt, finished with cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida (hing) and chopped ginger fried in ghee and poured over at the end. Our starting point: one cup of rice, half a cup of dal, 4.5 to 6 cups of water in a pressure cooker, one teaspoon of ghee per bowl.
At a glance
- USDA FoodData Central lists ghee at 900 kcal and 60 g of saturated fat per 100 g, so a 5 g teaspoon in the tadka adds 45 kcal and 3 g of saturated fat to a bowl.
- ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines say "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible", counting a teaspoon as 5 g and a tablespoon as 15 g.
- The UK Food Standards Agency says leftover rice should be chilled within about an hour, kept in the fridge no more than one day and reheated only once.
What is ghee tadka khichdi?
It is the plain moong dal khichdi we cook at home: rice and split, skinned yellow moong dal cooked together with turmeric and salt until the grains give way, then dressed with cumin, hing and ginger sizzled in ghee. The tadka is the whole flavour of the dish.
Its cousin is ven pongal, covered in our ghee pongal recipe: the same rice and dal, but seasoned with black pepper, curry leaves and cashews, and no turmeric.
What ratio of rice to moong dal should you use?
Our starting point is two parts rice to one part split moong dal by volume: one cup of rice to half a cup of dal. For a dal-forward khichdi, go to equal parts; for a lighter one, three parts rice to one of dal. These are household tastes, not standards.
ICMR-NIN's 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Indians say: "Combining cereals with pulses in the ratio of 3:1 will improve the quality of protein in a meal." That is about a whole meal, not a recipe, so the khichdi itself need not be 3:1. Use a short or medium-grain rice that cooks soft, not one you would choose for separate grains.
How much water does khichdi need in a pressure cooker or a pot?
For one cup of rice and half a cup of dal, 1.5 cups of grain, start with 4.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker for a khichdi that holds its shape on a spoon, and 6 cups for a loose, porridge-like one. In a pot, add about half a cup more per cup of grain. These are our starting points, not standards.
Per cup of grain, that is 3 cups of water for spoonable (1.5 × 3 = 4.5) and 4 for loose (1.5 × 4 = 6) in the cooker. A pot loses more as steam, so start at 3.5 and 4.5 cups per cup of grain: 1.5 × 3.5 = 5.25, call it 5.5, and 1.5 × 4.5 = 6.75, call it 7. Cook once and adjust next time.
How do you make ghee tadka khichdi step by step?
Wash the rice and dal, cook them with turmeric and salt until soft, stir, then fry cumin, hing and ginger in ghee and pour it over. The quantities are our starting points for one cup of rice, half a cup of dal and four bowls.
- Wash. Rinse one cup of rice and half a cup of split moong dal together until the water runs nearly clear, and drain.
- Cook. Put them in a pressure cooker with 4.5 cups of water (6 for loose), half a teaspoon of turmeric and salt. Cook for three to four whistles and let the pressure drop on its own. In a pot, use about 5.5 cups (7 for loose), cover and simmer on low, stirring now and then, until both are soft.
- Stir and judge. Stir well; stirring is what turns grains and dal into khichdi. Too stiff: add hot water. Too thin: simmer uncovered.
- Heat the ghee. In a small pan or tadka ladle, warm four teaspoons of ghee, one per bowl, over medium heat until hot but not smoking.
- Cumin first. Add one teaspoon of cumin seeds and wait until they sizzle and darken a shade.
- Hing and ginger. Add a pinch of asafoetida and a tablespoon of finely chopped ginger, and stir for a few seconds until the ginger stops spitting. Many cooks lift the pan off the heat first, because ground spices darken almost at once.
- Pour. Tip the tadka, ghee and all, over the khichdi. Stir it through, or leave it on top so each bowl gets a visible spoonful.
Why does the ghee tadka go on at the end?
Because the spices need seconds in hot fat, not the time the khichdi takes to cook, and because the ghee is there to be tasted. A tadka made at the end reaches the plate with its aroma intact.
Our guide to when to add ghee in a tadka and in everyday cooking sets out the general rule and the reason for it: early when ghee is the cooking medium, late when it is the flavour. In khichdi there is no ghee in the cooker at all.
How loose should khichdi be?
As loose as you like it, with one rule: make it slightly looser than you want to eat it, because it thickens as it cools and sets firm in the fridge.
- Loose, or geeli khichdi. Cooked with the higher water figure, stirred until dal and rice merge, and thinned with hot water, before the tadka goes on, until it flows off the spoon. The tadka is stirred right through.
- Dry, or sookhi khichdi. Cooked with the lower water figure and stirred less, so the rice grains stay visible and the dal coats them. The tadka sits on top. Serve it at once, before it firms up.
How much ghee per bowl, in grams and calories?
One teaspoon per bowl is our starting point; one tablespoon is the generous end. The table uses ICMR-NIN's household measures (teaspoon 5 g, tablespoon 15 g) and USDA FoodData Central's SR Legacy entry for clarified butter (ghee): 900 kcal and 60 g of saturated fat per 100 g, so 9 kcal and 0.6 g per gram.
| Ghee in one bowl | Grams (ICMR-NIN measure) | Energy (grams × 9) | Saturated fat (grams × 0.6) | Against ICMR-NIN's "1 to 2 teaspoons/day" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 5 g | 5 × 9 = 45 kcal | 5 × 0.6 = 3 g | Half to all of the day's ghee |
| 1 tablespoon | 15 g (3 teaspoons) | 15 × 9 = 135 kcal | 15 × 0.6 = 9 g | Over the day's ghee from one bowl |
| 2 tablespoons | 30 g (6 teaspoons) | 30 × 9 = 270 kcal | 30 × 0.6 = 18 g | Three times the upper figure |
ICMR-NIN's wording is: "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible." The same guidelines say the use of saturated fat "is considered high when more than 10g/day of visible saturated fats (for a 2000 Kcal diet/ day) is consumed in the form of ghee, butter" or palm or coconut oil. A tablespoon on one bowl brings 9 g of saturated fat, close to that line on its own; two tablespoons passes it. One teaspoon stays inside both.
Our guide to ghee spoon measures in grams explains why tablespoon weights differ between references. If a doctor or dietitian has set your fat intake, follow their figure.
How should you cool, store and reheat leftover khichdi?
Treat it as cooked rice. The UK Food Standards Agency says to chill leftover rice as quickly as possible, ideally within one hour, keep it in the fridge for no more than one day, and never reheat it more than once, making sure it is steaming hot all the way through.
The reason, the FSA explains, is that uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning, and the spores can survive being cooked. It is not the reheating that causes the problem, the FSA says, but how the rice was stored beforehand.
- Do not leave it in the cooker to cool. The FSA says not to leave rice in the rice cooker, steamer or pan to cool down; dividing it into smaller portions helps it chill faster.
- Lid it, in small portions. ICMR-NIN says to store cooked food in the refrigerator in containers with lids, preferably in small portions, with the fridge below 5°C, and that keeping cooked food warm for several hours promotes bacterial growth.
- Reheat once, with water. Cold khichdi sets solid. Break it up, add hot water, and heat until steaming hot throughout.
Is khichdi right for babies or someone who is unwell?
If you are cooking khichdi for a sick family member or a baby starting solids, we make no claim about what it does for either. What to feed a child or a patient, from what age, how much and how soft, is a question for your doctor; follow their advice over anything in a recipe.
For reference, ICMR-NIN's sample complementary-food recipes for babies above 12 months include a vegetable khichdi of 20 g raw rice and 20 g green gram dal with vegetables, and add that breast milk should be continued. That is an illustration, not a prescription for your child.
If you are choosing a ghee for the tadka, our A2 bilona ghee is made by Himdhara in the Uttarakhand hills from curd churned on a wooden bilona, and every jar carries a batch code.
The short version
Ghee tadka khichdi is one cup of rice and half a cup of split moong dal cooked soft with turmeric and salt, finished with cumin, hing and ginger fried in ghee. Start with 4.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker for a spoonable khichdi and 6 for a loose one, more in a pot. The tadka goes on at the end because the spices need seconds, not minutes, and the ghee is there to be tasted. One 5 g teaspoon per bowl adds 45 kcal and 3 g of saturated fat and stays within ICMR-NIN's 1 to 2 teaspoons a day; a tablespoon does not. Chill leftovers within about an hour and reheat them once, until steaming hot.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter, Clarified butter (ghee). FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- Food Standards Agency (2026). Home food fact checker. GOV.UK.