Bnagla Press Desk: Recently, I read that a fleet of 1,000 government officials is planning to go abroad to learn how to cook khichuri at a cost of Tk5 crore. Just tell me if the neighbours like India’s Modi, Pakistan’s Imran or Bhutan’s Lotay Tshering hear about this, what would they say? Be it rain or winter morning, there is no end to the Bengalis’ obsession with khichuri (a local dish).
Apart from being delicious, the appeal of khichuri is incomparable to everyone from students to unmarried people for its relatively time-saving and simple cooking process.
Just like this two days ago, a bachelor colleague of mine posted a picture of his cooked khichuri on Facebook. Despite his reluctance, as he said in the post, he set out to cook khichuri even in the scorching heat to prepare his lunch briefly. But before the end of cooking, it suddenly rained, ending him up with the childish Facebook post.
In the meantime, I read that a fleet of 1,000 government officials is planning to go abroad to learn how to cook khichuri at a cost of Tk5 crore.
Cooking khichuri? Let’s go on a foreign trip
Poor decision! Why do they have to go abroad spending such a big amount just to learn how to cook khichuri! Seriously? I could not accept it by any means.
Tell me if the neighbours like India’s Modi, Pakistan’s Imran or Bhutan’s Lotay Tshering hear about this, what would they say?
So, I immediately got committed to protecting the nation from this embarrassing situation, sat down with the notebook and wrote the Khichuri recipe for all.
Here are few popular recipes of three Asian and other countries on how to cook khichuri –
Bangladeshi Khichuri-
Ingredients
1 cup Mung bean
2 cup Basmati rice
½ cup ghee or butter
½ cup onion, sliced
2 green chilies
2 teaspoons garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1 bay leaf
2-3 cloves
2-3 cinnamon, about 1″ each
5 cups boiled water
1 tablespoons salt
Instructions
Wash rice and mung bean. Strain all the water. Set aside.
Add ghee/butter in a pan on medium heat. Add onion and saute until it gets slightly golden.
Add everything from chilies to cinnamon. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.
Add salt and boiled water. At the sight of bubbles, put a lid on the pan and cook for 20-22 minutes or until rice and bean is done.
Your bhuna khichuri is ready. Serve it with pickled onion.
Wasn’t it so easy to cook the popular Bengali dish? I wonder why the government officials are going that far spending public money to learn it!
I am also providing two Indian and Pakistani recipes for those of you who want to cook khichuri in foreign flavors.
BP/SM
