Kichadi with Brown Rice

I knew I wanted to make this upon reading the recipe on Coconut and Quinoa's awesome blog. Looked so homey and comforting. A nice break after Easter Ham-Fest. Smells great while it's simmering away in your kitchen too. Just make sure that you give yourself time to soak the mung beans and rice overnight. I actually just put them on to soak at about 7 am. then started cooking at 5pm, which is just fine if you don't mind eating at around 7:30. Very little actual hands on time...most of the time involved with this recipe is while it's burbling away on the stovetop. The original recipe adds tamari sauce to season, but I wasn't too keen on adding that with the Indian spices. In fact, the Monster added a little to his serving and I plain didn't like it in there. When I ate it for lunch the next day it was way more fabulous just topped with Sriracha sauce, avocado and sliced almonds or sunflower seeds, so that's how I've written it.

Kichadi with Brown Rice:
(slightly adapted from Coconut and Quinoa)

1 cup brown basmati rice

½ cup mung beans

1 tablespoon extra-virgin coconut oil, or ghee

1 tablespoon minced ginger

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

15 curry leaves, if available (I subbed 1 tsp of mild curry powder)
1 tsp brown mustard seeds

½ cinnamon stick

6 cups boiling water

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 inch piece kombu (bought in the Asian section at Central Market)

sea salt

optional goodies for topping:
Sriracha sauce
avocado
sliced almonds, or roasted sunflower seeds, etc.

Combine basmati rice and mung beans in a bowl and wash thoughly. Drain and cover with 2 inches of filtered water. Soak over night. Drain and rinse again.

Warm coconut oil/ghee in a large pot over medium heat. Add minced ginger, cumin,curry leaves (curry powder), mustard seeds and cinnamon stick. Sauté for a few minutes until fragrant then stir in the drained rice and mung beans.

Increase heat to high and add boiling water, turmeric and kombu. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat as low as possible, cover and simmer 1 hour. Add a large pinch of sea salt and simmer for another hour, stirring ever 20 minutes to prevent sticking.

Remove from heat and let sit at least 10 minutes before serving. Top with avocado, sliced almonds and Siracha sauce.

Pictured as we ate it the first night...but I liked it much better as served in the photo at the top!