Monima is my aunt, my mother’s younger brother’s wife. To all us cousins, she has always been an aunt, a friend and a confidante. In so many years of knowing her, none of us remember her for a moment when she wasn’t smiling, patient and kind. To everyone around her. To that, add a killer sense of humour and a great hand at cooking.
One of the many things that she excels at is Sabudana Khichuri. The Bengali sabudana khichuri is unlike how it is made in the Western states of India. Bengalis add moong daal to the khichuri and cook it to an gruel consistency, alongwith peanuts, diced vegetables and laced with ghee. It is a comforting, filling recipe cooked mainly during religious occassions and is had to break fasts. And no one makes this humble, yet difficult to make dish better than Monima does. My grandfather, her father-in-law, was a fan of her sabudana khichuri, alongside being her biggest support.
As she and Mamu called us during the lockdown to ask after us, I asked her for the recipe and made it at home. The day I did, I had run out of vegetables, so couldn’t add any to the khichuri but even without that, it was the best sabudana khichuri I had ever managed to make, though way short of her excellence!
Sabudana Khichuri
Medium sized sabudana: 2/3 cup; Yellow moong daal: 1 cup; Diced carrots, beans and peas: 1 cup; Peanuts: 2 tablespoons; Ginger: 1 inch; Bay leaf: 2 leaves; Green chilli paste: 1 teaspoon; Panchphoron: 1/2 teaspoon; Dry red chilli: 4; Asafoetida: 1/4 teaspoon; Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon; Salt and Sugar: to taste; Cow’s ghee: 2 tablespoons
1. Wash and soak the sabudana in 3 cups of clean water. Keep aside for one hour or till sabudana is hydrated and almost translucent. Transfer the sabudana to a strainer and wash under running water till the water is almost clear.
2. Dry roast the moong daal in a heavy bottom wok till lightly browned and fragrant. Wash with water.
3. Peel and grate the ginger.
4. Bring about 3 cups of water to boil with turmeric powder and bay leaf. Add the moong daal, cover and cook over medium-low flame till daal is cooked and appears broken.
5. While the daal is cooking, heat another pan with one tablespoon of ghee. Once the ghee is hot, add the panchphoron and the asafoetida. Once the spices are fragrant, add the vegetables, and a little salt. Saute till the vegetables are nice and glossy, cover and cook over low flame till three quarter cooked. Add a spash of water, if required.
6. Add the sabudana and sauteed vegetables to the daal, cover and cook till sabudana is cooked all the way through. It will turn translucent and glossy at this point. Add the ginger paste. Add some hot water if the khichuri seems too thick.
7. Heat the other tablespoon of ghee, temper with the dry red chillies; add the peanuts and fry till light brown. Pour over the khichuri.
8. Add the sugar, adjust salt and serve hot.
