Foxtail millet khichdi
Preparation Time
30 minutes
Cooking Time
31 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Lunch
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- Green moong split (chilka moong dal)
About This Recipe
Khichdi pairs a grain with a dal and cooks them soft in one pot, and small millets take to it well. This version cooks foxtail millet with split green moong dal, and the small grains do the work: they soften in a short pressure cook and carry the tempering through every spoonful.
Half a cup of moong dal to a full cup of millet keeps the pot light, and the dal still breaks down and gives the khichdi its soft body. Four and a half cups of water to those one and a half cups of grain makes a spoonable pot that thickens as it sits; use four cups for a drier one and stir in hot water at the end for a thinner pot. The dal keeps its green skin, which holds a little bite after cooking; dehusked yellow moong dal melts into the grain instead.
Yellow moong dal can replace the split green moong one for one. Stir in chopped carrot and peas with the grains for a vegetable khichdi, and barnyard millet, which cooks in much the same time, can stand in for the foxtail. Four bowls come from a full cup of millet and half a cup of dal; each bowl is made from about 50 g of the dry millet. For the wider millet family, start with our guide to the types of millets in India.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Khichdi
- Foxtail millet (kangni) — 1 cup
- Green moong split (chilka moong dal) — 1/2 cup
- Turmeric Powder — 1/2 tsp
- Salt — 1 1/2 tsp
- Hot water — 4 1/2 cups
Tempering
- Ghee (half for the tempering, half to serve) — 2 tbsp
- Cumin Seeds — 1 tsp
- Hing (asafoetida) powder — 1/4 tsp
- Ginger, finely chopped — 1 tsp
- Green chilli, slit — 1 piece
To finish
- Hot water, for thinning — 1/2 cup
Skip The Store !
Get all you need for the recipe in just a few clicks
Serving Suggestions
Spoon the remaining ghee over the bowls and serve hot with plain curd, a roasted papad and lime pickle; a bowl of kadhi alongside makes it a bigger meal. For a sick-day bowl, thin it with extra hot water. Leftovers keep up to two days in the fridge; reheat with a splash of hot water. The foxtail millet hub covers the grain itself.
Tips for Cooking Foxtail millet khichdi
Rinse the millet and dal together in a bowl, swishing until the water runs clear; dust and stray husk sink away. Drain the soaked grains well before they meet the ghee, or the fat sputters. Salt the water before you close the lid, then taste once it opens. Stir just once after uncovering; working the pot over and over turns the small grains into paste.
Chef’s Note
Foxtail millet swells rather than splits in the cooker, so the khichdi keeps a soft grain you can still feel; the dal melts around it. The per-serving figures below count only the moong dal and the ghee: neither IFCT 2017 nor USDA FoodData Central prints composition values for foxtail millet, so the millet's own share is left out of them.
Per serving (approx.): 149 kcal, protein 6 g, carbs 13 g, fat 7.8 g, fibre 2.3 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jul 08, 2026
Recipes You’ll Love
More everyday cooking with COWBERRY organics, from the same kitchen.
Preparation Time
35 Min
Cooking Time
20 Min
Difficulty Level
easy
Preparation Time
20 Min
Cooking Time
15 Min
Difficulty Level
easy
Preparation Time
45 Min
Cooking Time
45 Min
Difficulty Level
moderate