THREE
MILLION PEOPLE died during
the Bengal Famine of 1943, wrought not
by a natural calamity like drought but
precipitated by
the ruinous policies of British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill.
The famine
impacted the dietary culture of Bengal
in ways that haven't perhaps been
entirely documented. Writer Arka Roy
Chowdhury for instance, notes
that dishes such as lau-er khosha bhaja
(fried bottle gourd skin) may have their
origins during this time of scarce food.
So also the Bengali emphasis on using
every part of edible plants and fish in
their cooking. Pumpkin flowers and taro
leaves, hilsa heads and banana stems —
unusual foods often owe their ubiquity
to unusual circumstances.
Similarly,
Rinku Ghosh traces
the practice of Durga pujo bhog for all
(“sarbojanin”) to the 1943 famine as
well, when the “Bhattacharjee family of
Howrah began distributing bhog to the
people as part of their Durga Puja, a
mix of banana stems and green amaranth.
From then on, the distribution of bhog
was seen as a community service by the
big zamindars”.
Since its
introduction, the bhog has become an
indelible part of Durga Pujo, and while
it includes a host of staples like
payesh, beguni and labra, the star is
undoubtedly the bhoger khichuri.
More
on Slurrp: United We Stand,
For Bhoger
Khichuri
A mashed
preparation of gobindobhog rice
(fragrant and short-grained) and sona
moong dal, the bhoger khichuri is
anything but bland, although it could
proudly wear the crown of being comfort
food. This, despite the lack of onion
and garlic. (Even meat and fish
preparations served during Pujo are
cooked without onion and garlic.) It has
Bengali garam masala, whole spices, and
a variety of vegetables that are added
to the khichuri: potatoes, peas and so
on.
There are few
deviations in the bhoger khichuri recipe
(especially if it is being served at
community pandals), but minor details
may differ. Here’s what three writers
have to say:
“The mahabhog
is almost a standard fare, there isn't
much experimentation done with it. It
has moong dal, gobindobhog rice,
cardamom, bay leaves, cumin seeds,
turmeric and ghee. In some houses, they
add vegetables too — for instance,
cauliflower, green peas, potatoes,
tomatoes, beans.
However what
differs is the assortment of
accompanying food items that go with the
khichuri. A lot of families make 5-10
different kinds of bhajias (brinjal,
potato, cauliflower, bitter gourd,
pointed gourd, pumpkin to name a few).
Then there’s a labra/ghyat/chorchori —
which is a mixed vegetable dish. It uses
vegetables that are high in roughage,
fibrous roots and leaves of vegetables
etc.
In my father’s
house, the khichuri is made without
roasting the moong dal, while on my
mother’s side, they roast the dal before
using it. It changes the taste a
bit...but otherwise it’s all the same.”
— Suryasarathi
Bhattacharya
“The bhog
version of khichuri is always denser and
drier than the normal, once-in-a-while,
at-home variant. The dryness is so
evident that it often forms large
solidified chunks. In fact, the mahabhog
that is served at the Jagannath Temple
also has a similarly thick body to it.
It’s achieved through this intriguing
manner of stacking pots atop each other;
the size reduces with each layer going
up. But all these pots, the full
vertical of it, sometimes as many as 50,
cook on a single woodfire. Yet the
tiniest one sitting above each of them,
is known to always have perfectly cooked
grains.” — Shreya
Paul
“Many
households do not consume anything made
out of rice on Sashti, so when you’re
served the Ashtami bhog, you effectively
break your (sort-of) fast with the
khichuri.” — Pratishruti
Ganguly
Also Read: 5
Things Bengalis Love With Their
Bhoger
Khichuri
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