Khichdi: India’s Ultimate Comfort Food

Khichdi video recipe

Khichdi podcast episode

Khichdi: India’s Ultimate Comfort Food

Khichdi is India’s ultimate comfort food. It’s a dish made from rice and lentils in its simplest form; although, many restaurants and homecooks make very elaborate khichdi with a variety of vegetables or meats. It tends to be on the watery side compared to many other rice dishes. Many people eat it with yogurt and pickle which give simultaneous cooling, sour, and salty flavors. Khichdi has a wonderful combination of warmth and creaminess. But the best feeling from eating khichdi is probably nostalgia. Many American born desis remember eating khichdi as children and eating it as adults momentarily transports them back to their childhoods. As a result, many describe khichdi as India’s most popular comfort food.

It’s a great recipe for when you don’t feel like making anything but you want something healthy and nutritious. Khichdi comes from the Sanskrit word Khiccha meaning a dish of rice and legumes. It is extremely popular throughout most of India: From the west in Gujarati, to the east in Benjal; North from Punjab, and even South to Tamil Nadu where there is a similar dish called pongal. It is often the first solid food for babies in India. Because khichdi is extremely nutritious, it is commonly served to the sick. Khichdi is popular in Ayurvedic medicine because it is said to contain a complete package of vegetarian protein while being easy to digest.

Khichdi is an extremely old dish. There are references to khichdi in the Mahabharata, one of which is as a food the Pandavas ate during exile around 800 BCE. The first Western written record of khichdi is from 300 BCE. Alexander the Great’s heir, Seleucus, wrote that rice mixed with pulses was a very popular food during his military campaign in India. Later, the famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta mentioned a dish made of rice and moong beans around 1350.

In the book Eating India, author Chitrita Banerji claims that one reason khichdi is so popular is because its ingredients are cheap and carrying the grains on trading routes is easy. Several centuries ago when a merchant from modern day Benjal needed to travel to Gujarat, for example, the only ingredients needed to make khichdi were rice and moong dal. Both ingredients are easy to carry and inexpensive. Also giving khichdi an advantage was that it could be cooked in one pot by boiling the rice and dal over a simple fire. Khichdi’s simplicity and good nutritious value gave it a huge advantage in spreading all over India compared to more elaborate dishes.

Around the 16th and 17th Centuries, the Mughals adopted khichdi as one of their favorite dishes. The famous Mughal ruler Akbar was very fond of khichdi according to folklore. There is a famous children’s story in India featuring khichdi called Birbal Ki Khichdi. In the story, Akbar’s advisor Birbal uses a pot of khichdi to convince the stubborn Emperor Akbar of a mistake in Akbar’s judgment. Khichdi is used in the story because it is a very common dish in India and it was very popular in the Mughal court. I will have a link in the show notes where you can watch an English version video of the story: Birbal Ki Khichdi (YouTube – English). Other Mughal emperors added more ingredients to their khichdi, changing it from a simple, nutritious dish to a high-class meal. They created variations including anything from pistachios and raisins to fish and boiled eggs. Restaurants in India still make some of these more elaborate versions of khichdi. After the British spent time at the Mughal court, they brought home a variation of khichdi called Kedgeree which is rice, fish, boiled eggs, and spices.

If you have listened to other episodes of this podcast, you know that the recipe of an Indian food dish can vary significantly between regions of India. The same is true for khichdi. Northern states tend to use whole green moong dal, while other states tend to use split moong dal which cooks faster and is softer. Of course these are generalizations and recipes can be different from family to family within the same state in India.

A similar dish in South India is pongal which is also made from rice and split moong dal. It has a thicker and stickier consistency than khichdi from other regions of India and can be made spicy or sweet.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are known for Keema Khichdi which is made with minced meat, rice, and lentils.

Vaghareli Khichdi is a Gujarati khichdi made with rice, toor dal, peas, and peanuts. Onions, tomatoes, green chilies, ginger, garlic, and whole spices can be added too.

Bisi Bele Bhaat is popular in Karnataka. It is made without any onion or garlic. It contains rice, toor dal, jaggery, vegetables, and spices. The consistency is usually soupy.

Bhoger Khichuri is from West Bengal and it is made with vegetables, spices, a bit of sugar, moong dal, and Gobindo bhog rice, which is a short grain rice grown in West Bengal.

Amla Khichdi from Uttar Pradesh uses split urad dal, rice, and Indian gooseberries.

Sabudana khichdi is popular for Hindus who avoid eating grains during fasting. The rice is replaced with sabudana which translates to tapioca pearls. It tends to be popular in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Sabudana khichdi is also popular as a breakfast and snack food in India.

I could continue, but you get the point. Varieties of khichdi are very popular throughout India and there is a huge range of possibilities for ingredients, spices, flavors, and textures.

In late 2017, the Indian National Government used social media and called khichdi the “queen of all foods”. At the time, India did not have a national food, unlike many other countries. For example, Poutine is Canada’s national dish.

Many Indians thought the social media posts indicated that the government was preparing to designate khichdi as India’s national dish.

Some thought khichdi would be a good choice given its popularity throughout much of India. Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor was preparing to make over 1700 lbs or 800 kg of khichdi in a live event.

But not everyone was thrilled with the social media buzz.

Some wanted biryani, golgappa, or jalebi to be the national dish instead of khichdi. Others preferred no national dish designation to signal the cultural diversity of India.

After the controversy took hold of Indian news, India’s Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal spoke to the media and clarified that the government had no plans to designate a national dish whether it be khichdi or otherwise.

Now that we talked about the history and popularity of khichdi, I want to give you a quick khichdi recipe. If you’ve listened to other episodes of the Indian Food Explained podcast, you know the drill already. Checkout my YouTube channel Cook Like An Aunty to see a step-by-step instructional video of this recipe. Or go to cooklikeanaunty.com/khichdi to get the written recipe. There will be a link in the show notes.

The first step to make khichdi is to put half a cup of white rice and half a cup of moong dal in a bowl. I prefer to use whole green moong dal because that is what my North Indian in-laws do, but you can use split moong dal or another lentil if you prefer.

Wash and rinse the rice and dal with water 3 to 5 times. You want the water to run clear.

Then add enough water to submerge them in the bowl then cover the bowl with a plate. Soak the rice and dal for at least 20 minutes. This step helps speed up the cooking process.

After the rice and dal are done soaking, pour out the soaking water.

Then you have 3 options for how to cook the khichdi.

Option 1 is to use a pot on the stovetop, add the rice and dal to your pot with 4 cups of water. Also add 1 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 tsp of salt. Simmer the rice and dal with the pot covered for 45 to 60 minutes depending on the texture you prefer.

Option 2 is to use a pressure cooker. Add the rice and dal to your pressure cooker with 4 cups of water, 1 tsp turmeric powder, and 1 tsp of salt. Cook it for 4 whistles and then let the pressure release before opening the lid.

The last option is to use an Instant Pot. Add the rice and dal to the Instant Pot with 4 cups of water, 1 tsp of turmeric powder, and 1 tsp of salt. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes and let the pressure release on its own after cooking.

I prefer using an Instant Pot because I can set it to cook and walk away. Then I can come back 5 minutes before I want to eat and finish making the khichdi. The other two methods require you to be near the stove while it cooks. Stovetop takes the longest but requires the simplest equipment. The pressure cooker is about as fast as the Instant Pot method but requires you to stay in the kitchen while it cooks.

After cooking the rice and dal, we will finish the khichdi with a tharka.

Heat a pot on medium to high heat.

After the pot is hot, add about 1 Tbsp of ghee into the pot. You can use more or less ghee depending on your preferences.

Once the ghee is hot, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds and cover the pot. Let them pop.

When the mustard seeds finish popping, add a pinch of asafoetida, or hing as it’s known in Hindi, and as much ground black pepper as you want.

Finally, add about 10 curry leaves and cover the pot again. The curry leaves might sputter up some oil so cover the pot quickly.

At this point, you can add any vegetables you want such as onions, tomatoes, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, and carrots and let them cook fully. Or you can finish without vegetables.

Turn off the heat and pour the ghee and spices on top of the rice and dal.

Mix well, and your khichdi is ready to eat!

As I said before, many people prefer to eat khichdi with yogurt and pickle. I personally prefer mango pickle.

If you want to see a more detailed recipe, checkout the video on the Cook Like An Aunty YouTube channel. You can find a written recipe, and the sources used to make this episode on cooklikeanaunty.com/khichdi. Links in the show notes. Thanks for listening! And see you next time.

Podcast credits

Background music: Live Looping Guitar and Saraswati Veena by Shobana Music

Title music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar/flow-of-the-ganges License code: M1ADLQ9V0KCQ3ECP

Sources