Khichuri, Sylhet style
It’s raining cats and dogs (or is it elephants and rhinos?), the skies are dark with turgid clouds and the thunder and lightning roll out at regular intervals. You cannot go out despite umbrellas and rain coats for you are sure to become a soggy mess. The perfect comfort food for such occasions is hot steaming Khichuri. Guaranteed to lift your mood and make a lovely holiday out of a rainy day.
There are many varieties of this dish but in my mind, the Khichuri which originates in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh is by far the best.
Here it is.
Ingredients
300 gms Rice, 150 gms Masoor Dal (red lentil)
4 choto elaich (green cardamom), 4 pcs cinnamon stick,4 cloves, 2 dry red chillies.
6/8 small size onions.
10/15 discs of Radish.
4/5 small potatoes peeled and cut into half
6/8 pcs of cauliflower.
2 onion finely chopped.
2tsp garlic paste
2tsp ginger paste
1tsp Turmeric(haldi) powder
1tsp Cumin( jeera) powder
1tsp red chilly powder
6tbsp of butter, oil or ghee.
Salt to taste.
Preparation
In a large saucepan heat the butter/ oil/ghee. When medium hot, drop in the dry red chillies, green cardamom, cinnamon and cloves and fry for 1 minute. Add chopped onion and fry till brown,
Add ginger/garlic paste, stir- fry till it stops spluttering. Then add turmeric and Cumin powder and fry for 1minute. Now add the veggies (Onions, Radish, Potatoes, Cauliflower) and fry for 1 minute.
To this, now add the pre washed and soaked rice and masur dal. Fry for 2/3 minutes and add salt to taste. When everything is nicely mixed, add enough cold water to just to cover the rice/dal mixture. Add additional water from time to time so that the water level is just 1 inch above the mix. Cover the pan and cook. Make sure to keep the heat low and stir frequently.
When everything is cooked through, add 2 tsp of sugar and one tbsp of butter/ghee.
Serve with Baigon Bhaja and fried pieces of Iilish fish. A little sour mango pickle on the side would add the perfect zing!
No comments:
Post a Comment