There is more to the humble khichdi than a mix of rice and lentils, says Team Viva
Did you know that the Moroccan traveller, Ibn Batuta who visited India in the 14th century, wrote, “Munj is boiled with rice, then buttered and eaten. This is what they call Kishri, and on this they breakfast every day.”
Khichdi is the simplest interpretation of rice and dal cooked together. But its therapeutic aspects have been a part of the ancient Ayurvedic texts. “Khichdi has calcium and all necessary vitamins. It can be a solution to address the issue of malnutrition. The World Record will help khichdi to find space in the global menu, it can be an alternative to fast food,” shared yoga guru, Baba Ramdev.
However, the once celebrated dish —khichdi was not only limited to Ayurvedic texts. In Ain-i-Akbari, Abu’l-Fazl is also known to have mentioned several versions of the khichdi prepared in the Mughal kitchen. “There are references to Akbar’s penchant for khichdi prepared with equal measurements of rice, lentils and ghee,” said Sohail Hashmi, the Delhi-based historian. In his book The Story of our Food, KT Achaya writes that Jahangir’s favourite dish was the “lazizan which was enriched with ghee, pistachios, raisins and spices.”
However, it was not just the Mughals who experimented with khichdi as the state kitchens were not far behind. In many of the provincial kingdoms across the country, the modest khichdi attained the exalted status usually reserved for the more sophisticated pulao (a rice dish) and meat-laden biryanis. With additions of luxurious ingredients like aromatic spices, saffron, dried fruits and nuts, fresh cream, and of course, different kinds of meat and seasonal vegetables, khichdis were soon on their way to attaining cult status as part of regal repasts. An outrageously extravagant variant of the dish was prepared in the kitchen of Nasir-ud-din Shah, erstwhile king of Oudh, where royal chefs created a rich, slow-cooked khichdi made entirely of slivers of almonds and pistachios which resembled grains of rice and lentils respectively. It was cooked in equal or double the amount of ghee.
Every region in India has different flavours to explore. The taste of water of different regions as well as eating habits too are different, which results in the great variety of the dish. “Khichdi is considered as the poor man’s food which is also enjoyed when we face health issues. This particular dish is nowadays part of many gourmet menu in which exotic vegetables and ingredients like truffle oil or basil ghee et al are used to uplift the regular khichdi. It can be presented in several avatars and can be considered as the national dish as throughout India it is cooked in every kitchen,” shared Harangad Singh of Prankster. “Nowadays even high-end restaurants have started using risotto, the Italian rice based dish to create different versions of khichdi. With so many avatars, why can’t it can be a national dishIJ A dish which is cooked in every home without any religious or political boundaries should be a national dish.”
Manish Sharma, owner at Molecule said that India is the country of diverse religions and cultures, “We have a lot of dishes which are served and eaten on a regular basis by the whole country. Of course, I agree that khichdi is one of the most common dishes which is eaten in every part of the country with different names but there are a lot of other dishes as well like biryani, kadhi chawal, pulao, samosa, chicken tikka, and tadka dal. So we can’t say that khichdi is the only dish which is consumed by the whole population.”
Imtiaz Qureshi, the first chef to receive the Padma Shri award, said it was time for khichdi to become the global dish. “I introduced biryani and pulao to five-star hotels, which then became global dishes. Now, khichdi is set to become the global dish thanks to its taste and nutritious value.”