In Bihar khichdi is a Saturday. Not a convention so much as a rule, kept in households that could not tell you where it started, and the folk explanations people offer for it contradict each other cheerfully. What does not vary is what comes with it, which the saying fixes: khichdi ke chaar yaar — dahi, papad, ghee aur achaar. Curd, papad, ghee and pickle, four things, and a plate that arrives without all four is understood to be incomplete. The khichdi itself is not the pale invalid’s food the word suggests elsewhere in India: chana or masoor dal with rice, tempered with onion, red chilli and garam masala, thinned so it stays loose, and a well of ghee poured into the middle at the table. Alongside it come aloo and baingan chokha, and often bajka, vegetables in gram-flour batter. On Makar Sankranti the same dish is made at night with vegetables through it, and the whole thing gets more elaborate.
INGREDIENTS
- 200 g short-grain rice (rinsed)
- 150 g masoor dal or chana dal (rinsed)
- 1.2 litres water
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp ghee (plus more to serve)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 dried red chillies
- 1 large onion (finely sliced)
- 6 garlic cloves (sliced)
- 2 cm ginger (grated)
- 1 tsp garam masala
- thick natural yoghurt (to serve)
- papad (to serve)
- mango or lime pickle (to serve)
METHOD
- If using chana dal, soak it for 30 minutes; masoor dal needs no soaking.
- Boil the rice and dal together with the water, turmeric and salt until both are soft and beginning to break down, about 25 minutes in a pan or three whistles in a pressure cooker.
- The consistency should be loose and pourable. Add hot water if it has tightened.
- Heat the ghee in a small pan. Add the cumin, bay leaf and dried chillies and let them darken for a few seconds.
- Add the onion and fry until deep brown at the edges, then the garlic and ginger for a minute more.
- Stir in the garam masala and take off the heat immediately.
- Pour the tempering into the khichdi and stir it through.
- Roast the papad directly over a gas flame, turning with tongs, until it blisters and curls.
- Serve at once, with a well of ghee poured into each plate at the table, and the curd, papad and pickle alongside.
