BHOGER KHICHURI O BEGUNI

Bhoger Khichuri literally means offering cooked rice-lentils to god. It is a one pot meal of rice and lentils. Generally in Bengal no one puts onion garlic in their khichudi. It is the the ultimate comfort food for Bengalis. During my MBA days I remember making Khichudi for my entire batch on the occasion of Saraswati Puja.

This one however is not really a Bhoger Khicudi as I did not make it an offering to God before serving. But spirituality missing the taste was close to a BHOG. And what better than the deep fried eggplants to go with it.

Khichudi Preparation:

STEP 1- Dry roast the dal in a pan for about 2 mins on low flame or till the colour becomes darker.

STEP 2- Put the dry roasted dal and the rice in a bowl. Wash them thoroughly till you get a clear water. Drain and keep it aside.

STEP 3- In a pan dry roast the coconut for about a min on medium high flame. Keep sautéing till it turns light brown in color. Take it out and keep it aside.

STEP 4- In the same frying pan pour 2 TBSP of mustard oil. In about a min the oil should be hot enough to fry the potatoes. Throw the potatoes in. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and turmeric powder. Fry them for about two mins on medium high flame or till it turns golden-ish brown in color.

STEP 5- In a saucepan, pour 3 TBSP of mustard oil. The heat should be on high at this point of time.

STEP 6- After 20 secs reduce the flame and throw in the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, dried red chilli, cumin seeds, hing/asafoetida and 1 TBSP of ginger paste. Saute everything for 30 secs on low flame.

STEP 7- Throw in the chopped tomatoes and the remaining ginger paste. Sauté everything for another min on low flame.

STEP 8- Add the masalas- turmeric powder, red chilli powder and cumin powder along with 2 TBSP of warm water. Once you see the oil starting to separate (in about 30 secs) pour 6 TBSP of water and let it come to a boil.

Always use warm water while cooking Indian cuisine. The flavor stays intact.

STEP 9- Throw in the rice and dal mixture and keep sautéing it for about 2 mins on low flame.

STEP 10- Pour 1.1 Liter of warm water. Add salt, sugar and throw in the fried potatoes. Increase the flame at this point of time. Mix everything together. Let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil reduce the flame to low and cover the saucepan with a lid.

STEP 11- After 10 mins, add slitted green chillies, green peas, dry roasted coconut, and the brown ghee. Cover it again with a lid. Let it cook for another 5-6 mins.

STEP 12- After 5-6 mins your Bhoger Khicudi is ready. Turn off the flame.

Beguni Preparation:

STEP 1- In a bowl add chopped green chillies, gram flour/besan, rice flour, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, sugar, baking soda, nigella seeds and water to make smooth semi liquidy batter. The batter should lightly stick to the eggplant.

STEP 2- In a saucepan heat up 200 ML of refined oil. Add 2 TBSP of the hot oil into the batter just before frying the eggplants.

STEP 3- Dip the eggplants into the batter and fry them for about 25 secs on each side on medium high flame. It should light brown in color. Take them out on a paper towel and serve it with the Khichudi.

Your wholesome meal and the ultimate comfort food is ready!