Khichdi

India's ancient one-pot comfort: rice and lentils cooked together into a golden, yielding mass that has nourished the subcontinent for three thousand years

Origin: India

From the journey of Rice.

Khichdi is the ur-food of the Indian subcontinent. It appears in the Mahabharata, was eaten by Mughal emperors, nourished armies, and was the basis of the British colonial dish kedgeree. Today it is cooked in every Indian state, in hundreds of variations, as the meal of convalescence, of simplicity, of comfort. The first food fed to Indian babies is often a soft khichdi. The dish that the British turned into kedgeree, adding smoked fish, hard-boiled eggs, and curry powder, was the rice-and-lentil dish they encountered when they arrived in India. Its ancestor is still cooked, unchanged, from Gujarat to Bengal.

Ingredients

Base

  • 200 g white basmati rice, rinsed
  • 150 g moong dal (split yellow mung beans), rinsed
  • 800 ml water

Aromatics

  • 1 medium onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 green chilli, slit lengthwise

For cooking

  • 3 tbsp ghee

Spices

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
  • 0.5 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 bay leaves

Seasoning

  • 1 tsp salt

To serve

  • 1 tbsp ghee, extra to serve
  • 1 handful fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 cup plain yoghurt, to serve

Method

  1. Heat ghee in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and bay leaves. When the cumin sputters, add the onion and fry for 8–10 minutes until soft and golden.
  2. Add the garlic, ginger, and green chilli. Cook for 2 minutes. Add turmeric and ground coriander; stir for 30 seconds.
  3. Add the rinsed rice and dal. Stir to coat everything in the spiced ghee. Add the water and salt. Bring to a boil.
  4. Reduce to the lowest possible heat. Cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
  5. Taste and adjust salt. If the khichdi is too thick, stir in a little hot water. Remove bay leaves.
  6. Serve in bowls with a generous knob of ghee melted on top, a scattering of fresh coriander, and plain yoghurt on the side. Pickles (achar) are the traditional accompaniment.

Notes

Khichdi is the probable ancestor of the British dish kedgeree: an Anglo-Indian dish that added smoked haddock and hard-boiled eggs to the rice-and-lentil base, which British colonists adopted as a breakfast dish in the 18th century. The Indian original, however, is a wholly different thing: gentle, aromatic, and self-sufficient.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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