Bengali Khichuri Recipe for a Rainy Day

The sky has gone grey, the window is streaked, and nobody wants to cook anything that needs attention. This Bengali khichuri recipe is for that evening. It is one pot, mostly waiting, and the smell of roasting lentils alone is worth it.

Our library has one khichuri: Bhuna Khichuri. The word bhuna here means the dal is dry-roasted and the masala is fried until the oil separates, which makes it a drier, nuttier pot than the soft porridge in Rice and Lentil Porridge, our Pakistani-style khichdi. Same family, different mood.

What goes in the pot

For 5 servings, about 55 minutes (15 prep, 40 cook), level easy:

• Rice, 300 g / 1.5 cups, washed and drained
• Split mung beans (moong dal), 200 g / 1 cup, dry-roasted
• Onions, 2, thinly sliced
• Ginger paste and garlic paste, 1 tbsp each
• Turmeric 1 tsp, red chilli powder 1 tsp, cumin seeds 1 tsp
• Whole spices: 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cardamom pods, 4 cloves
• Ghee 2 tbsp and cooking oil 3 tbsp
• Salt to taste; 4 whole green chillies, optional

The recipe notes that short-grain aromatic rice such as gobindobhog is the traditional choice. We do not list a US or UK shop where you can buy it, so check an Indian or Bangladeshi grocer. The recipe does not require it.

Roast the dal until it smells like toast

This is the step that makes it bhuna. Put the moong dal in a dry pot over medium heat and stir constantly for about 3 minutes, until it turns pale gold and smells nutty. Do not let it darken. The recipe warns that dark dal tastes bitter, and it does.

Then wash the roasted dal together with the rice and soak both for 10 minutes. Roasting first is also what the recipe credits with keeping the grains separate, so do not skip it to save three minutes.

Fry the masala properly

In a deep pot, heat the oil and ghee and fry the sliced onions for about 4 minutes until golden. Add the bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and the ginger-garlic paste and cook one minute. Then turmeric, chilli and cumin go in with a splash of water for about 2 minutes, until the oil separates from the masala.

"Oil separates" is the signal you are watching for: a thin shine of oil at the edges of the paste. If it has not appeared, keep going. A rushed masala makes a flat khichuri that no amount of salt fixes.

Add the drained rice and dal and stir for a minute, so every grain is coated.

Water, heat and the lid

Pour in about 1 litre (4 cups) of hot water, add the whole green chillies and salt, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer about 20 minutes, until the rice and dal are soft and slightly mushy. If it dries out before the grains soften, add a splash more hot water.

That is 300 g rice plus 200 g dal to 1 litre water. Treat it as a starting point: our recipe's own tip says khichuri thickens as it cools, so begin with the stated water and adjust by feel. Pull the pot off the heat, leave it covered for 5 minutes, then stir in a spoon of ghee.

If you want it looser, like a gruel, add hot water at the end. If you want it drier, uncover for the last couple of minutes.

What to serve beside it

The recipe's suggested companions are a fried egg, beef bhuna or a fried whole green chilli, as is traditional on a rainy day. In our library that maps to:

• Kala Bhuna, black beef bhuna, about 140 minutes: a long project for a weekend.
• Maach Bhaja, fried fish, 30 minutes.
• Dim Bhorta, mashed egg, 17 minutes, if you want a fast side.
• A simple fried egg, which needs no recipe.

For a weekday, the fried egg and a green chilli make a complete dinner. Save the beef for Friday.

Fixing the common faults

Leftovers

Cool the pot quickly, within about an hour, and keep it in the fridge no longer than a day. Reheat until steaming hot throughout. The longer guidance is in Cooling, Storing and Reheating Rice and Daal Safely.

One evening's timing sheet

• 0:00 Roast dal, 3 minutes
• 0:05 Wash and soak rice and dal, 10 minutes. Slice onions meanwhile.
• 0:15 Fry onions, 4 minutes
• 0:20 Whole spices and paste, 1 minute; powders, 2 minutes
• 0:24 Rice and dal in, stir, then hot water and chillies
• 0:26 Simmer 20 minutes
• 0:46 Rest 5 minutes, stir in ghee
• 0:52 Serve

If you want to check which of these ingredients you already have, Degchi's pantry sandbox lets you tick items off before you shop.