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Khichdi is one of Bengal’s favourite foods. Khichdi had been declared as the ‘Brand India food’ already! This dish is the food for celebration as well as the food for patients. Khichdi is the ultimate ‘comfort food’ for people living in Bengal. Need examples?
Raining? “Maa khichdi banao” (“Mom, prepare khichdi”)
Not feeling well? ‘Maa khichdi banao’(“Mom, prepare khichdi”),
No time to make food? “Arey! Khichdi baniye nao naah!” (“Hey! Prepare khichdi”)
Planning for a picnic? “Khichdi-mangsho koro.” (“Prepare meat and khichdi”)
To be precise ‘Khichdi’ is the food for all seasons and every occasion or even without any occasion. Khichdi can either be ‘Amish or Non-Vegetarian’ and ‘Niramish or Vegetarian.’ Khichdi has been experimented on with meat, fish, prawns, meat liver as well as keema.
Khichdi which is made in the North is totally different from the khichdi you get in Bengal. Someone who is accustomed with Bengal’s khichdi will only love Bengal’s khichdi. Khichdi has a history since the 14th Century. It was considered as an ayurvedic food and was regularly consumed by Moroccan traveller Ibn-Batuta on a regular basis.
Khichdi was considered as a ‘wonderful dish’ by the Mughals and was consumed by them regularly for breakfast. ‘Abul Fazl’ and ‘Ain-i-Akbari’ mention various preparations of khichdi in imperial kitchen which even includes Akbar’s special kind of khichdi which used to be made with lentils, rice and ghee. It is even mentioned that Jahangir preferred khichdi with a lot of spices, raisins and ghee.
The ‘Niramish or Vegetarian khichdi’ is the one which is generally served during various puja’s and other rituals.
In Hyderabad, Khichdi is spicy and is served with thin ‘Khatta’ sauce while in Karnataka, Khichdi is cooked with spices like clove, cumin, fenugeek, dried coconuts, cardamom, coriander, byagdi chilli and Kapok buds which gives a unique and distinct district taste to the Khichdi.
However, Khichdi is the ultimate food for Bengalis and the history of the food is enough to make it the super food of not just Bengal but of India as well.
