Khichudi – the favorite monsoon recipe for Bengalis

When it is raining cats and dogs outside, there is a general clamor in the family to prepare ‘khichudi’ for lunch - ‘khichudi as the main dish with begun bhaja and papad to munch with the piping hot homogenous mixture of rice, dal, potato, and onion. The last two ingredients should preferably be whole and not cut in pieces.
The taste of the onion, once it gets cooked in whole, is out of this world – as you peel the layers one by one, you wonder at the power of nature. She has created a vegetable that can make you cry and, also, soothe your taste buds.
Oh – I forgot - there could also be an omelet alongside the khichudi or fish fry.

It is not known which Bengali came up with this recipe but, it is generally believed that it is a quick fix solution when it is not possible to go out of doors to the market due to pouring rain outside. Hence one has to make do with readily available items at home.
The procedure is not complicated - get hold of the ingredients, wash and dump them into a vessel, add salt and enough water and put it on the oven. While the cooking is in process, the begun bhaja are prepared as also the papad bhaja and omelet. The container of ghee is kept near at hand and the family members gather at the table, ready with the spoon.
Just before serving, the ghee is added to make the dish more appealing.
There is, of course, another type of khichudi – the pure vegetarian one with no trace of onions. This is prepared during the Durga Puja and is served as a community lunch to whosoever is present at the puja pandal at that time. This lunch is an occasion where there is no separation of caste or creed, rich or poor. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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