Khichu with Rice flour / Savoury porridge with Rice flour

 "How to make kechu with 2 cups of rice flour"

This was one of the search lines that  showed up on my blog.
At first, I was intrigued ... thought maybe it meant 'kichu'. But how would anyone make kichu , that too with rice flour?
A query on my fb page also did not yield any result. Except for one blogger friend who mentioned it is "khichu" and a kind of rice porridge. No recipe.
So I called up Mummy, my mother in law.
Being a Rajasthani, she'd surely know.

"Woh hum Saajaa banate hain na beta, bilkul wahi cheez hai. Buss, yeh chawal ke atte se banti hai", she said.
Sajaa!!! Of course!
It has been ages since I made Saja last. So had almost forgotten about it.
But does it have the same ingredients?
"Haan, wahi jeera, hing , mirchaa aur tel".
Hmmm ...

I was not too satisfied. Sounded too easy.
So searched the net. And found two kinds of recipes.
One, with hing, like Mummy said. Another with garlic.
One recipe mentioned boiling the garlic paste. Another mentioned frying it and adding as a tempering before serving.
I know how to make with hing since I am used to making the Sajaa.
So decided on the latter one ... fried garlic being one of my favourite things in food.
That I had run out of hing was just a coincidence.

 The Khichu is made from different kinds of flour like the rice, makke ka atta ( corn meal ), jowar and bajri flour. Some temper it after making it; others temper the oil first and then add the flour to the boiling water.
Both ways are equally good.
The texture is soft and smooth and it has a good hint of spice due to the red chilli powder and green chillies.
I added a little lemon juice and that brought out the flavours all the more.
I also added some baking powder for some softness ... I don't add it when making the sajaa but was unsure of how the rice flour would behave.

This was quick to make and made for a good breakfast, just as the Saajaa does.

Need :

Rice flour - Half cup
Water - 3 cups ( use the same cup )
Garlic - chopped , around 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Soda bi carb - a pinch
Baking powder - ½ tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Lemon juice - 3 tsp 
Fresh coriander leaves

How to :

Heat around 2 tbsp oil in a pan.
Add the garlic and fry on low heat till it turns just brown.
Turn off heat and add the chopped green chillies. Stir well. 
Keep aside.

Take a deep kadahi or pan.
Pour in the water + red chilli powder + salt + soda bi carb + baking powder + 2 tbsp oil.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Add the lemon juice and boil on low heat for around a minute.
Add the rice flour slowly, stirring all the while.
Mix in the rice flour well, making sure there are no lumps.
Keep stirring till all water is soaked up and the rice flour is well cooked.
Make sure to hold a cover to shield yourself as the paste will tend to bubble up and burst.
It should take around 3 to 4 minutes for the whole thing to cook well and dry up.  

You can see the texture of the insde in this photo.

"Sajaa!!! Nana ji banate thhey!"
This was what B said after tasting a spoonful.
And I knew I was on the right track.

Serve the Khichu  hot with a sprinkle of fresh coriander leaves and the fried garlic and a little oil from the same.
Enjoy !!!