I think I was about eight when I realised that being sick, but not too sick, could have its perks.
Much like waking up to mum telling me that I wouldn’t be going to school after she’d place her cool palm on my hot forehead. However, what I would look forward to the most was the sound of her red glass bangles clinking against a small steel bowl in her hands that would announce the arrival of khichdi, a rice-lentils-spices combination that she’d make, every time I’d fall sick.
I was too young to understand how the dish managed to bring me comfort, but I was old enough to understand why. This was the only dish that was flavourful enough to overpower the metallic aftertaste of antibiotics and the bitterness of cough syrups.
Enter two sisters from Jaipur India: Together, Ratika Bhargava and Riccha Khetan, founders of CauldronSisterss, a food and beverage consultancy in Jaipur, have handpicked over 60 khichdi recipes from several states across the country, for their 'fundraiser' book ‘Khichdi.’
They call this book a 'fundraiser' because "…all proceeds from this book, since the day of the book launch, have been given for charity purposes. Some of the causes we have donated to include Veruschka foundation for autistic children in Mumbai, Shilp Sansthan, an NGO in Jaipur, which funds the education of children, who live in impoverished areas. We have dedicated this book for lifelong charity." Bhargava explains.
After speaking to them I realised how unaware I was about how this soul food is more than just a convalescent meal.
Taking the origins with a pinch of salt
Bhargava believes that khichdi is a rarity in Indian cuisine. It is one of the few authentic Indian recipes that doesn’t draw its ingredients from the many foreign rulers during pre-Independence India.
“Khichdi is truly Indian. In ancient times, before the invention of medicines, people used ayurveda [alternative medicine system practised in India] to treat diseases. And khichdi is ayurveda in a bowl. It is a well-balanced medicinal kind of meal that is gentle on the stomach and yet it has protein, fibre, the right amount of carbohydrates and healthy fats. Naturally, people consider the dish as bimaaro ka khaana [food for the sick],” says Bhargava.
The original khichdi recipe is simple, made up of some mung dal (yellow split mung lentils) and rice boiled in salt water. The simplicity and the high nutrition in the dish made it the perfect meal for anyone who was too ill to eat anything else, she explains.
Some Indian food bloggers have traced the word khichdi to the Sanskrit word Khiccha, which means a mixture of rice and beans. It didn’t take too long for the dish to evolve, especially during the era of the Mughal rulers, who made many Indian dishes their own, including khichdi.
“Mughal emperor Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605 AD, used to enjoy khichdi. It used to be just one cup of khichdi, made with a cup of vegetables and a cup of dry fruits in it. We have read about this a lot. Of course, like other Indian legends, it's difficult to know whether this is a myth or a fact,” says Bhargava.
A trail of over 60 khichdi recipes
As part of their research for the book, Bhargava and Khetan found that every Indian state has their own recipe of khichdi.
We found some exotic varieties of khichdi. And how the dish changes ever so slightly according to local spices, local grains or the vegetables that grow in a particular region that the dish belonged to.
“When it came to making the dish, the basic ingredients are the same across most Indian states. We spoke to chefs from the region and studied the source of the ingredients. Then we found some exotic varieties of khichdi. And how the dish changes ever so slightly according to local spices, local grains or the vegetables that grow in a particular region that the dish belonged to. That’s when we realised that so many new things can be done with khichdi.
“Some states are so festive, like West Bengal that makes Bengali Bhoger Khichuri, which is a mishmash of vowel sounds and has big bunch of all these flavours too. You've got mustard oil, vegetables and it takes some time to make, a reason why it's so festive.”
The sisters explain that northern states in India that have lush mountain ranges and temperate climates impart a strong flavour to the spices that grow there, making the khichdi in these parts more flavourful and spicy. One example of this is Mongkhaser (or mong khaser) khichdi from Jammu and Kashmir.
Some Indian states closer to the coast, like Goa, makes a type of sweet khichdi while Arunachal Pradesh makes Kharzi or a khichdi with cheese.
Here's a Manipur-style khichdi recipe from Ratika Bhargava and Riccha Khetan:
Recipe for Manipur Khichdi
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 to 3
Ingredients
1 cup Manipuri black rice, soaked for an hour
½ cup moong dal, soaked
2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
½ tsp Panch Phoron - equal mix of cumin, fenugreek, brown mustard seeds, fennel, wild celery seeds (optional) and nigella seeds
1 to 2 dried bay leaves
4 to 5 Gondhoraj lebu leaves or substitute with kaffir lime leaves
1 green chili, split lengthwise
1 tbsp ginger, chopped
1 tsp garlic, sliced
4 to 5 cups vegetable stock
1 to 2 cups tomato blanched, peeled and chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Method
Heat ghee in a pan, add the panch phoron, dried bay leaves, green chili, ginger and garlic. Add the tomatoes and turmeric and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until all the water evaporates.
Cook until the tomatoes and the mixture form a paste. Add rice and dal and mix well. Add the stock, the lemon leaves and check for seasoning. Cook until dal and rice are soft.
Garnish with more ghee and coriander. Serve hot.
Khichdi has some global lookalikes too. Think Spanish risotto. According to the sisters, even the British Kedgeree is an imitation of khichdi that early colonial rulers borrowed from India.
When I asked if there was a khichdi recipe that comes close to Arabic cuisine, Bhargava and Khetan explain that the rava khichdi from Tamil Nadu looks and tastes like a mushy version of couscous.
“The end product is one dish, in one pot, which you relish, no matter where it’s from,” they add.
Putting one’s soul into soul food
The sisters who claim to have no culinary experience, swear by their love for khichdi, which happens to be the only reason why they collected recipes for their first book, Khichdi and their second book which has the same name, but more recipes.
For our fundraiser book, we worked alongside other chefs who helped us chronicle khichdi recipes. They have also shared their own recipe, which shows how to make fusion versions of khichdi, in the book.
“For our fundraiser book, we worked alongside other chefs who helped us chronicle khichdi recipes. They have also shared their own recipe, which shows how to make fusion versions of khichdi, in the book.”
Other than collecting recipes, the sisters decided to donate all the proceeds from the book to charity.
“The dish is very close to our heart and it’s loved by all in our family and the book touched us so much that we decided to make it a charity project. We donated the funds from the book sales, about 11,000 rupees (about Dh 500) at first, to a foundation, which is working for specially-abled children. Then we donated the next 5,000 rupees (about Rs 220) to an Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that is working with us to help develop slum areas. Through the funds, we plan to sponsor some children who want to study with the help of this NGO.”
Another favourite part of the project were the photography sessions. Khetan explains that when they took photographs of the dishes, they tried their best do justice with pictures to show the effort and detail that went into the making of the dish.
“We’ve tried all the recipes in the book. Once, we tried to recreate a khichdi recipe that Vicki Ratnani, celebrity chef and our dear friend gave us. The dish is made with red rice and wild black rice and foxtail millet. The khichdi goes well with mango salsa. By the end of the dish, the contrast of the ingredients and flavours like the mellow flavours of rice, along with the tartness of mangoes and the spiciness of the chilies that we put in salsa were difficult to capture through a camera lens.”
Khichdi as a metaphor
Khichdi is a visual metaphor for unwinding and relaxing with a dish that lets you take as long as you want to turn coarse grains and tough thoughts into mush.
I recently made khichdi for my four-year-old, who was down with the flu. Somewhere around the fifth time I stirred the pot, I thought about why this dish was my mum’s go-to recipe, whenever I fell sick. I realised that khichdi takes a while to prepare and some amount of focus, like any dish that is slightly stubborn to turn into a porridge like texture. Preparing it seems to have a meditative effect, calming those who might be anxious about their loved ones falling sick.
If you’d like to try some original khichdi, here’s recipe by Ratika Bhargava and Riccha Khetan.
Recipe for plain moong dal khichdi
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1/2 cup white rice
1/2 cup split mung dal
3 cups water
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
For the tempering:
2 to 3 tbsp clarified butter or ghee
1 tbsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp or a pinch of asafoetida powder
1 tbsp chopped ginger
Method
Wash and clean the rice and dal, let it soak in water for about 15 minutes.
Add the grains and lentils in a pressure cooker along with water, salt and turmeric.
After 3 whistles, turn off the flame and leave it be until the steam built up within subsides.
For the tempering, heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds, asafoetida and ginger. Stir it until the ingredients turn golden and add the tempering to the rice and dal in the cooker.
Add some water, if required, to make the consistency smoother.
Serve hot with any Indian pickle, papadam or yoghurt.
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