Kareena Kapoor loves food and it seems like her friends love feeding her too. Remember the last time she had a mini feast of sorts inside her vanity van when one of her crew members got Biryani. The following day, she also treated everybody with her homemade ‘Moong Dal Halwa’. On Wednesday, her friend and make-up artist Mallika Bhat, prepared the Bengali Bhog Khichdi, and tagged Kareena Kapoor Khan, Malaika Arora and Amrita Arora in her story. Kareena reshared the story with a gif “can’t wait”.
This is the season of festivals and Bengalis around the world are waiting for their plate full of Bhoger Khichuri. But what is so special about this khichdi?
For the uninitiated, Bhog is a food offering you make to Gods and Goddesses. In both Sharadiya and Basanti Durga Puja, goddess Durga is typically offered a Bhog of Khichdi, Labra (mix vegetable), tomato chutney sweetened by dates, and payesh (a rice and milk pudding). In Durga Puja pandals, after the Puja, this bhog is also distributed to thousands of people around lunchtime, all of whom sit side by side and enjoy the meal with full gusto.
The Bengali Bhog Khichdi is not your standard khichdi. Here the dal or the lentils are roasted before they are cooked, which lends the khichdi an enticing, smoky appeal. Then, of course, the free use of Panch-Phoron, a Bengali spice blend ensures that the Khichdi is all things feisty. Panch Phoron, is a spice mixture made with a combination of five spices such as nigella seeds, brown mustard seeds, fennels seeds, methidana, dried red chillies etc. The combination and quantity of spices can differ from recipe to recipe. You also find bay leaves in the preparation which makes the khichdi very fragrant too. The Khichdi also comes with the goodness of many vegetables such as potatoes, pumpkin and peas. Of course, the choice of veggies is also subjective. The tadka of the Khichdi is made in hot and pungent mustard oil.
Drooling much? We found a very easy recipe of Bengali khichdi just for you. Try it soon and let us know how you liked it.