Bhogar Khichuri [ Bengali Durga puja special]
Khichuri is the Bengali variant of Indian one pot meal, khichdi pepared using roasted moong dal and fragrant gobindobhog rice. This is completely a niramish khichdi (vegetarian) as it is a Bhog / prasad, also known as 'bhaja mug daler khichuri'.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Gobindbhog rice
- 1 cup Moong dal
- 1 cup Potato cube (1 inch)
- ½ cup Green pea
- 1 no. Tomato (finely chopped) (big)
- 1 inch Ginger (grated)
- 2 no. Bay leaf
- 2-3 no. Green cardamom
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- 5-6 no. Clove
- 1 tsp Cumin seed
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Red chili powder
- 1 tsp Garam masala powder
- 1 tbsp Mustard oil
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- Salt as needed
- Water as needed
Instructions
- Rinse and clean the rice thoroughly, keep aside.
- Dry roast the moong dal till light brown in color.
- Transfer to a bowl, wash and clean properly.
- Soak in enough water for 1 hour. Drain and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a kadhai.
- Add the cumin seeds, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick and green cardamom and saute for few seconds over low-medium heat.
- Then add grated ginger along with chopped tomatoes, saute till tomatoes are mushy.
- Add the spice powders along with salt, saute for 1 minute more.
- After that add potato cubes (1/2 inch) and green peas.
- Mix well with the masala and saute for 3-4 minutes.
- Then add the moong dal and rice into the pan.
- Gently mix everything and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour 4 cup of warm water and stir well, but gently.
- Over medium heat, allow to get a boil.
- Then simmer it and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring in between.
- When all the ingredients are completely cooked, turn off the heat.
- Drizzle ghee on top and allow the khichuri to rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Then serve with beguni bhaja (eggplant fries) or any no-onion-no-garlic curry !
Notes
- The Bengali khichuri is prepared without adding any vegetables. But I have added potato and green peas here. You may add some cauliflower florets too.
- You can also make the khichuri runny by adding more water, but if you prefer a drier version, go with just 4 cups of water as I did here.
- Always use Gobindo bhog rice (aromatic small grain rice) for the recipe. Don’t replace it with Basmati rice.
- The proportion of rice and dal for the khichuri here is 1:1 always.
- Dry roast the moong dal separately for some time and then wash the dal. It gives a better flavour to the khichuri.
- Roasted moong dal always takes longer to get cooked than rice. So, soak the moong dal for at least 1 hour.
- Fry the rice into the masala for some time before adding water. It gives a better texture to the khichuri and lasts longer as well.
- Mustard oil is used to cook the khichuri. It gives a better flavour to the khichuri, so do not skip it.
- Ghee gives incredible flavour to the khichuri, so at the end drizzle on top.