Recipe of the Month – January

Bengali Healing Khichuri (Kedgeree)

Ingredients:
1 level tbsp red lentils
1 level tbsp basmati rice
2 tsp salt
1 clove garlic
1 small piece of ginger
1 red onion
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cumin
1½ tbsp coconut oil
2 dried chillies (add more if you like your food hot!)
½ tsp cumin seeds
5 cherry tomatoes

Method
1. Soak the lentils and rice together in a bowl of cold water. You can do this the night before or in the morning, or otherwise, it’s okay to just do it as you start the other preparations. The longer they are soaked, the quicker they will cook.
2. Peel and roughly chop the garlic and ginger. Slice the tomatoes in half.
Drain the water from the soaked rice and lentils and rinse before covering
them in fresh water. Add salt and set to boil.
3. As they heat up, a bubbly ‘film’ will form over the top which you need to
skim off. My mum told me that this is not good for us and causes acid in our system.
4. Add half the onion, the turmeric and cumin powder, and just ½ tbsp of the coconut oil. Continue cooking for around 20 minutes in total.
5. Melt 1 tbsp coconut oil in a large frying pan, and add dried chillies and cumin seeds. Add the ginger, garlic and remaining onion, and stir frequently to blend flavours. After approx. 10 minutes, combine this mixture with the rice and lentils. Continue to cook adding approx. 100ml boiling water at a time. Continue to do this until the rice and lentils are soft.
6. Use the same pan that you fried the onions in to fry the cherry tomatoes which you can use to garnish.
You can vary the recipe by adding vegetables of your choice to the rice and lentil mix. Sweet potatoes or courgettes work well.

Cooking for One – a collection of recipes and stories written by the bereaved offering wisdom, insight, love and hope.

Cooking for One contains no platitudes about what a great healer time can be, it is a candid account of the raw pain and utter loneliness that grief can bring about. Those who have opened up about their grief have told it as it really is, not what they think people want to hear. They tell you what has helped and the lessons that they have learned along the way.

So, as well as containing delicious recipes, Cooking for One aims to serve as a personal handbook designed to help the bereaved navigate their personal pathway of grief. Despite people telling them that they ‘really ought to be getting over the worst of it by now’ – and however much they appear to be outwardly coping – perhaps the pain will never fully fade and nor would they wish it to.

Hasina’s Story

During my early childhood, when I was ill, my mum, Halina, would make a dish called khichuri, also known as the ‘ill food’. Khichuri is a dish made with rice, orange lentils, and turmeric. It is garnished with freshly chopped coriander and onions, garlic and cumin seeds fried in butter or ghee. I remember disliking this dish as I thought it was bland and tasteless, although it was easy to swallow and digest. Let’s face it, when we are ill, the last thing we want is food, but my mum knew the exact consistency to make this universal dish.

When my mum died in 1997, I cannot remember what food I ate, all I remember was that I was numb from arranging her funeral and looking after my two-week old baby and my daughter who was twenty months – but I’m certain at least one good friend will have brought me their version of this dish.

Khichuri can be made either dry (cooked with less water) or as a soup consistency, which differs within the regions of Bangladesh. I’m from a place called Noakhali where Khichuri is made dry and eaten with homemade mango or lime pickle.

However, in a region called Sylhet, Khichuri is prepared to give a soupy consistency and is topped with lots of fresh ginger, making it detoxifying and easier to digest. This is the
version I prefer to make and eat. Khichuri is commonly served during times of healing, particularly when one is convalescing, or given to a new mum or someone who has just experienced the death of a loved one and is grieving. One can add a variety of small-cut vegetables or serve it with a fried egg.

It is said that this dish has the power and healing properties to cure and eliminate world hunger; suggesting the nutrients have the perfect proportions of carbohydrate, protein and spices to heal our body and emotions. Within South-Asian communities, this recipe is served to break the fast during the month of Ramadan and is often made with black chickpeas as opposed to red lentils.

Interestingly, during Ramadan when I am fasting, I have noticed that I tend to crave Khichuri, so I would either make the dish or ask a friend to make it for me. Or I would eat it at a family or friend’s house and make sure I get the opportunity to break my fast with this delicious and soothing dish, which reminds me of my mum.

For information on Rosedale’s bereavement support group, please click here.