Bangladeshi Khichuri
A soft Bangladeshi dish of rice and split yellow lentils cooked with ginger, turmeric and ghee, served with fried eggs or vegetables.
Photograph credit: Khichuri & Dimer jhol from Bangladesh by Sm faysal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
On a rainy day in Bangladesh, a pot of khichuri is what people want: soft, warm, fragrant, and cheap enough to feed a crowd. It is one pot of rice and lentils, simmered together until they are almost a porridge.
Roast the lentils in a dry pan for 2 minutes before cooking. They turn pale gold and smell nutty. Rinse them with the rice, then fry both briefly in ghee with onion and spices. Fry the rice and lentils in the spiced ghee for a minute. That coats each grain and brings out the flavour.
Add hot water, stir once, cover and simmer. The ratio is looser than for plain rice, so that the khichuri is moist and spoonable. It thickens as it stands.
Serve it hot with a fried egg, a fried vegetable and a spoonful of ghee on top. The sharp pickle on the side is not optional.
Bangladeshi Khichuri: Step by Step
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Dry roast the dal in a pan for 2 minutes. Rinse with the rice until the water runs clear.
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Heat the ghee in a heavy pan. Fry the cumin seeds and bay for 20 seconds, then the onion for 6 minutes until golden. Add the ginger and turmeric for 1 minute.
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Add the rice and dal and fry for 1 minute. Add the hot water and salt and bring to the boil.
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Cover, lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes, stirring once, until soft. Add hot water if it is too thick.
Worth Getting Right
- Roast the dal first.
- Fry the rice and dal in the spiced ghee.
- Use plenty of water, as it thickens on standing.
- Serve with a fried egg on top.
If You're Missing Something
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
Pairs Well With
Fried eggs · Fried aubergine · Pickle · Plain yoghurt
Keeping and Reheating
Keeps in the fridge for 2 days. Add hot water when reheating.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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