Palak Khichdi is a wholesome vegetarian dish made with lentils, rice, and spinach. This gluten-free dish cooked in ghee, earthy cumin, and warming garam masala makes an amazingly flavorful and satisfying meal.
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What is Khichdi
Kitchari, Khichri, or Khichdi is a nourishing, porridge-like Indian comfort food usually made with rice and lentils that is an easy-to-digest, wholesome meal. There is also another version that is made especially for fasting - check out my Sabudana Khichdi Recipe for more details.
This variation of simple dal khichdi is packed with fresh spinach (Palak in Hindi) for an extra boost of flavor, making it a hearty and satisfying meal.
Serve the piping hot palak dal khichdi with a spoonful of homemade ghee and pair it with roasted papad ( a large, thin, disc-shaped crisp, made from lentil flour) and pickle for a comforting weeknight meal.
A Perfect one-pot meal for the whole family
Khichdi has always been my go-to meal for busy weeknights, and my boys grew up loving it. When they were babies, Khichdi was one of the first solid foods I introduced them to—soft-cooked and wholesome. As they got used to the textures, I gradually added spices like cumin, garlic, and garam masala, making it a delicious and balanced meal for everyone.
After a long day at work, Khichdi was always the easiest and most comforting dish to whip up. Over the years, I’ve experimented with different varieties, and these have become family favorites:
I learned this Palak Khichdi recipe from my mom back in 2017 and my whole family instantly fell in love with the creamy textures and warming flavors from homemade garam masala.
How to Make Spinach Khichdi
Here is my step-by-step recipe on how to make the best palak khichdi. Assuming you are using an Instant Pot or a pressure cooker to cook your rice and lentils, this recipe can be ready in under 45 minutes.
Step 1: Rinse rice and lentils and drain the water. Add rice, lentils, water, and salt to the Instant Pot insert and pressure cook for 6 minutes followed by 5 minutes of natural pressure release. If using a stovetop pressure cooker, cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or 3 whistles.
Step 2: In a large pot bring 8 to 10 cups of water to boil. Add green chilies and baby spinach, and blanch for 1 to 2 minutes or just until the spinach starts to wilt. Take the spinach and chilies out in a colander and run cold water over it to prevent the spinach from overcooking. Drain out the water completely.
Step 3: Add garlic cloves, ginger, and blanched spinach and chilies to the blender and make a smooth puree. Tip - If you do not like the fibers from the spinach make sure to puree well.
Step 4: In a large pot heat ghee (Tip - I dry the pot used for blanching spinach and use it for making the khichdi). Add cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle about 30 seconds. Add finely diced onions and cook for 4 to 5 mins. Stir in garam masala, salt, and spinach puree. Next, add the cooked rice and dal (from step 1 above) with more ghee and mix everything. Serve immediately with more ghee and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serving
For the best taste, serve piping hot khichdi immediately along with roasted papad, spicy pickle, and plain yogurt. To reheat Khichdi, simply microwave it in serving bowls with additional ghee.
Pro Tips
- Short grain rice such as Ambe Mor or Kali Jeera rice works best for this recipe as it makes soft, porridge-like khichdi. In a pinch, you can also use Basmati or Jasmine rice.
- Pre-washed baby spinach works great for this recipe as it cuts down on the prep time
- Puree the spinach really well if you do not like to see the fiber strands in the khichdi
- This is a great dish for when you are feeling under the weather or sick.
Variations
- This recipe makes medium spicy khichdi, but you can adjust the number of green chilies or completely omit them when serving to babies or toddlers, or elderly family members
- Use Jalapeno Serrano chili instead of the small Indian green chilies
- To make with brown rice khichdi, increase the pressure cook time to 22 minutes followed by natural pressure release
- To make vegan khichdi substitute neutral vegetable oil for the ghee
- You can also use frozen spinach instead of fresh, the color may not come out as vibrant but the khichdi will still taste equally good
Love spinach? Here are some of our favorite Indian Spinach Recipes:
- Palak Paneer- This restaurant-favorite paneer dish can be made in just 15 minutes using Instant Pot.
- Spinach Dal - A staple in Indian homes, these creamy lentils are cooked in warm spices such as cumin, turmeric, and garlic and packed with fresh spinach.
- Chana Saag - Curried chickpeas cooked with spinach in a tangy onion-tomato-based sauce that is perfectly spiced with turmeric, cumin seeds, and garam masala.
- Spinach Sev - Crunchy savory snack made with gluten-free gram flour that is quick to make and utterly delicious as a snack or party starter.
Did you enjoy this Indian vegetarian dish? Here are some more family-friendly recipes that will also be good for babies, toddlers, or even elderly family members:
Recipe
Palak Khichdi
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup short-grain rice Ambe mor or Kali Jeera or similar variety
- ½ cup mung dal
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 cups water
- 1 to 3 small green chiles use more or less depending on the spice level
- 1 pound baby spinach
- 8 garlic cloves
- ½ inch ginger
- 3 tablespoons ghee plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper optional for serving
Instructions
- Rinse rice and lentils and drain the water.
- Add rice, lentils, water, and salt to the Instant Pot insert and pressure cook for 6 minutes followed by 5 minutes natural pressure release. If using a stovetop pressure cooker, cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or 3 whistles.
- In a large pot bring 8 to 10 cups of water to boil. Add green chilies and baby spinach and blanch for 1 to 2 minutes or just until all the spinach wilts.
- Take out the spinach and chilies and run cold water over them so the spinach stops cooking further. Drain out the water completely.
- Add garlic cloves, ginger, and blanched spinach and chiles to a blender and make a smooth puree. Tip - If you do not like the fibers from the spinach make sure to puree well. I enjoy the fibers in the khichdi so I usually blend just for a minute.
- In a large pot heat ghee (Tip - I dry the pot used for blanching spinach and use for making the khichdi). Add cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle, about 30 seconds. Add finely diced onions and cook for 4 to 5 mins.
- Stir in garam masala, salt, and spinach puree. Then add the cooked rice and dal (from step 1 above) with more ghee and mix everything together.
- Serve immediately with more ghee and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Notes
- This recipe makes medium spicy khichdi, but you can adjust the number of green chilies to more or less or completely omit them when serving to babies or sick patients
- Small Indian green chilies can be substituted with Jalapeño or Serrano chili
- Puree the spinach really well if you do not prefer the fiber strands from spinach
- To make with brown rice khichdi, increase the pressure cook time to 22 minutes followed by natural pressure release
- To make vegan khichdi substitute neutral vegetable oil for the ghee
- You can also use frozen spinach instead of fresh, the color may not come out as vibrant but the khichdi will still taste equally good
Nutrition
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Jordan says
Hi can you clarify how much baby spinach ? Thanks
Archana says
Good catch! It's one pound. I added it to the ingredient list.
Ragini Menon says
Hi can you clarify what one serving is ?
Archana says
Its hard to describe as everyone can eat different portions. Basically a nice meal for 5 people 🙂
Jennifer Goodfellow says
The instructions didn't say to cook the ginger or garlic so it's essentially raw - which makes the garlic, especially, quite potent. Should the garlic and ginger actually be blanched with the spinach?
Archana says
It gets cooked along with the onions, doesn't need too much cooking since its a paste.
Rajani says
I tried it today. I added 1/4 cup oats and 3/4 cup rice and it turned out super yummy. Thank you for the recipe.
Shilpa says
Turned out very good! You can’t taste the spinach but it added to the nutritional value. Thanks for the creative recipe.
BR says
Made this and it was very good, thank you for sharing! Do you have any comments/thoughts on replacing rice with quinoa (ex: pressure cooking time etc.)?
Archana says
It will ve yummy with quinoa too! check out my quinoa recipe for cook times - https://ministryofcurry.com/instant-pot-quinoa/
Nandita says
Perfect instructions have resulted in a perfectly tasty recipe! So good for a weekday dinner! 🙂
SR says
If using frozen spinach, do we still need to blanch the spinach?
Archana says
squeeze out excess water
Shivda Pandey says
Delicious. Flavorful. Wholesome. Easy to make for a weeknight dinner. Ultimate comfort food. Thanks, Archana!
Sai Pradyumna says
Is it alright to try a different variety of rice, say 'Sona Masoori' variety?
Archana says
Absolutely
Alma Chandrasekharan says
Amazing taste! Made it on a rainy day and it was perfect! Thank you for such a simple recipe! I didn't have mung dal so used masoor dal and broken green gram dal !
Ketaki says
My 2 year old picky eater loves this! Thank you for the recipe! It has become a staple in our household.
KP says
Hi, can the blanching of the spinach be skipped? Does it impact the flavor?
Archana says
Blanching spinach will remove the raw taste of spinach
K says
If I could give this 10 stars, I would. This was so comforting and delicious. I used extra garlic and fried some to add over the topic. I ate it with lemon pickle, yogurt and banana chips. My kids also polished off their plates. Such a keeper!
Archana says
Thank you!
Christina says
This was amazing. So delicious. It was so silky and comforting. Thx for the recipe!
Christina P. says
So good! However in the recipe it reads that the garlic and ginger go raw into the blender along with blanched spinach. However I saw another reader that asked about this and you said they get sautéed with the onions. So maybe an update there would be helpful 😉 I did it raw the first time and it was fine a bit pungent lol then I thought the next time this can't be right. Anyway I basically licked my bowl clean both times. Love this recipe and will be making it often. thx for sharing.
Archana says
I have tried it both ways. If it was pungent for you then def go ahead and blanch them with the spinach.
Christina P. says
Thank you fir tour reply. I have made this several times now and I'm addicted. I crave it especially in winter now. I use defrosted frozen spinach. I put in a collander and squeeze the water out. The color was still very nice!
Archana says
So good to know! Frozen spinach is so convinient to use. I am glad to read that the color was nice 🙂
Prachi Patel says
This is one of my most favourite recipe of yours. My whole family absolutely loves it. Have made it so many times that I have lost count 🙂 Thank you for sharing it.
Archana Mundhe says
Aww, this makes me so happy! I’m thrilled to hear that your family loves the Palak Khichdi and that it’s become such a favorite in your home. Thank you for sharing this—it truly means the world to me.