The Humble Khichdi’s Pride Of Place On Raksha Bandhan

Rakhi’s unbroken bond with khichdi

Recently at a dinner with friends, the topic of dals emerged. My friend is from Andhra Pradesh and she prepared a toor dal pappu with sorakai or bottle gourd. The dish was very flavorful and tangy, tempered with onions, garlic, and green chilies. In southern India, toor dal is used liberally for sambars and pappus, whereas in the North, udad, chana, and mung dals are favored. The fresh aroma of my friend’s dish reminded me of the delicious chana dal khichdi my mother would make on festivals especially for Raksha Bandhan or Rakhdi, as it is called in Punjab, and Bhai Dooj on the second day of Diwali.

The dish was prepared in a pressure cooker, and yet it was not very mushy. One could separate each grain of flavorful basmati rice coated with homemade ghee, fried cumin seeds, and a pinch of asafetida. Even to this day, I cannot forget the happy sensation of my taste buds encountering a few plump, cooked, golden, split grams. How the gustatory juices flowed! This was served with raita made with fresh curds, and lightly seasoned with sweet licorice-flavored dill leaves from our kitchen garden.

Being the older sister I assumed the task of setting the thali with a katori of khichdi, a katori of raita, slices of fresh coconut or copra, and homemade peda sweets. On another tray were displayed assorted rakhis , vermilion, mauli (red and white thread), and letters from my father’s sisters and those bearing gifts from my mother’s brothers. We did not have a brother, so my sister and I, and later on our daughters, took great pleasure in tying rakhdis on my father’s wrist.

My father would sit crosslegged on the sofa, a white kerchief covering his head, as all of us, one by one, applied tilak on his forehead, fed him khichdi, and received from him crisp notes of 10, 20, and 100 rupees.

We particularly enjoyed reading his sisters’ letters filled with wishes of eternal good health and immortality . My dad’s eyes welled up with tears of brotherly emotion at the loving words of his sisters who could not visit him for the occasion. Afterward, he would sit on his writing desk to pen affectionate letters to them and enclose a check as a return gift.

But above all, he loved the chana dal khichdi.

Khichdi: An ancient, flavorful health food

Although India does not have one dish that can be termed its national food, the humble khichdi comes closest to what can be called Indian comfort food. Today khichdi is cooked all over India; an amalgamation of white rice, brown rice, broken rice, millet, oats, and cracked wheat. It is usually tempered with onion and garlic, mixed with cooked vegetables at times, and served with a spoon of clarified butter, a pinch of garam masala, lemon pickle, and raita.

This easy-to-digest meal serves as a convalescent and detoxification diet.  It is a balanced meal with complex carbohydrates, and class A proteins containing nine essential amino acids. It is endowed with dietary fiber, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. I love khichdi and can live on this one-pot meal for days. This gentle food from my mother’s kitchen is flavorful and has helped to nourish my mind and body.

The roots of the word khichdi are derived from the Sanskrit word khiccha (lentils and rice).  Although the exact timeline is difficult to determine, khichdi is at least as old as the Vedas , where it finds mention as krusarrana . In the Mahabharata (8th and 9th centuries BCE), Draupadi fed the exiled Pandavas khichdi cooked on woodfire. Kedgeree is the British colonial version of Indian khichdi and is proudly served in England in place of traditional porridge.

Raksha Bandhan – The bond of protection

Raksha Bandhan is a charming annual Hindu ceremony that celebrates the bond between sisters and brothers. On the day of Raksha Bandhan ( the bond of protection in Sanskrit), which is celebrated in the monsoon month of Sravan (July-August), sisters tie a talisman or amulet called the rakhi or rakhdi around the wrists of their brothers. The brothers take a symbolic vow to protect their sisters and give them token gifts, promising to care for them at a time of need.

In West Bengal, it is celebrated as Jhulan Purnima , with prayers being offered to Lord Krishna and Radha . The Koli community of Maharashtra celebrate Rakhi as narali purnima (coconut day festival). The fishermen offer prayers to Varuna , the Hindu god of the sea, to invoke his blessings. In Odisha, farmers tie an amulet on their cattle.

In my home this Rakhi, I will make the chana dal khichdi following my mother’s handwritten recipe, which is in the Vaishnavi style of cooking without onion or garlic. And I will tie a rakhdi to Lord Krishna. It is believed that when Krishna tasted his friend Sudama’s khichdi, he relished it with great joy. Ever since all Krishna temples have served khichdi as bhog. I hope this year my Krishna will accept my rakhdi and khichdi.

Khichdi Photo by Mario Raj on Unsplash

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