Bajra Khichdi

cracked pearl millet and split mung simmered soft with ghee, cumin, and asafoetida into a warming one-pot, the comforting winter khichdi of the Rajasthani and Gujarati desert table

Origin: India

From the journey of Millet.

Khichdi, the soft one-pot of grain and lentil simmered together, is one of the oldest and most comforting of all Indian dishes, and in the dry north-west it is made not with rice but with the region's own staple grain, pearl millet. Bajra khichdi is the winter food of Rajasthan and Gujarat: coarsely cracked or pounded bajra cooked with split mung beans (moong dal) and plenty of water until both collapse into a thick, soft, nourishing mass, tempered with ghee, cumin, and a pinch of asafoetida, and often warmed with ginger and garlic against the desert cold. It is humble, frugal, and deeply sustaining, the kind of food cooked in great pots in the village and eaten with a pool of ghee, a spoon of jaggery, a dollop of yoghurt or buttermilk, and a smear of garlic chutney. Easy to digest and gently warming, bajra khichdi is regarded as restorative, the food of the cold months and of recovery, and it shows pearl millet in its softest and most homely form, the dryland grain turned to the comfort of the one-pot.

Ingredients

The Khichdi

  • 150 g bajra (pearl millet), coarsely cracked or whole, soaked a few hours
  • 100 g split mung beans (moong dal)
  • 1.2 litres water, plus more as needed
  • 0.75 tsp salt

The Tempering

  • 3 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
  • 1 tsp ginger, grated (optional)

To Serve

  • extra ghee, jaggery, yoghurt or buttermilk, and garlic chutney, to serve

Method

  1. Rinse the soaked cracked bajra and the mung dal. If using whole bajra, crack it coarsely in a grinder first and soak; this helps it soften.
  2. Put the bajra, mung dal, water, and salt in a heavy pot (or pressure cooker) and bring to the boil. Simmer, part-covered, stirring now and then and topping up with hot water, for 35 to 40 minutes (or about 5 to 6 whistles in a pressure cooker), until both are very soft and collapsing.
  3. Mash lightly with the back of the spoon to the consistency you like, from soupy to thick, adding hot water as needed.
  4. Make the tempering: heat the ghee in a small pan, add the cumin, asafoetida, and ginger, and let them sizzle until fragrant, then pour over the khichdi and fold through.
  5. Serve hot, each bowl topped with a pool of melted ghee, with jaggery, yoghurt or buttermilk, and garlic chutney alongside.

Notes

Coarsely cracked (dalia-style) bajra cooks softest; soak it well. Moong dal is the usual pulse, though some use whole green mung. A pressure cooker makes light work of softening the millet. Serve loose and well-ghee'd; it thickens considerably as it sits, so loosen leftovers with hot water. Often eaten with kadhi or a fiery garlic chutney.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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