Make a delicious Bhoger khichuri recipe at home step by step with pictures. Basically, Bhoger khichuri means a no onion-garlic Bengali rice-moong daal khichdi/khichri prepared in every home of Bengal to offer God/Goddess as bhog or prasad/prasadam. This khichuri is prepared by cooking moong dal and gobindo bhog rice together with a few Indian spices and vegetables(aloo, fulkopi & koraishuti). No onion, garlic, and massor dal are used for making this Bengali khichuri, no onion garlic dish is called niramish(in Bengali). As in Bengali cuisine, onion, garlic and masoor dal are not considered veg ingredients so it is strictly avoided in making any niramish recipes including this bengali style khichdi prepared for pujor bhog. This niramish khichuri is specially cooked on Durga puja, Saraswati pujo, Lakshmi puja or Kali puja occasion in Kolkata aka West Bengal & Bangladesh. To get that exact bhoger khichuri flavour, must serve this khichdi on a sal leaf plate (Saal patar thala) or in a clay pot or plate.
About Bhoger khichuri
For making this Bengali bhoger khichuri, we use best quality gobindo bhog rice(a small grain fragrant rice) with sona muger dal(a small grain moong dal especially found in Bengal). Even you may use scented basmati rice, if govindo bhog rice is not available around. Even you can use simple moong dal (or organic mung dal) if sona mug is not available nearby. In this recipe, I used dry roasted sona moong dal with an equal quantity of gobindo bhog rice. Even the use of whole garam masala is a must for tempering in hot mustard oil in the beginning and lastly, must add powdered garam masala. Potato, cauliflower and green peas are also common ingredients in this bengali khichuri, though can use cashew nuts too in this recipe. And hot water is one most important ingredients used in making Bengali Khichuri recipes like any other khichdi recipes.
The taste and aroma of this bengali style bhoger khichuri is just incredible in one word, and I’m really a true lover of this khichdi. My immense love towards bhog er khichuri every year attracts me to the puja pandals on Maha Ashtami where Ma(Durga Maa) er bhog er Prasad is served. And I don’t mind standing in a long queue outside the Puja pandals to get that khichuri Prasad. I believe you must be lucky enough to get Ma er bhog prasad. And in pandal, a special brahmin cook or ranna’r thakur is appointed for making this pujor bhoger khichuri to serve the people.
We generalize bhog as two types, first, anna bhog which is prepared with rice. And the other one is shukno bhog(dry bhog prasad without rice) like luchi-suji-chire-different sweets and fruits. And according to Hindu Puranas or Vedas, only Bramhin can cook this anna bhog(rice or khichdi) for offering it to the god. Whereas, non-brahmin people don’t have the right to do so. I strongly believe in God, and I personally believe, that if anyone prepares this Anna bhog(rice or khichdi) with love and care, and then serves it to God with a strong belief in him, God surely accepts his offering without seeing his/her brahmin identity. That is why after getting married during every Lakshmi puja and Saraswati puja I always prepare this khichuri at home and serve it to the deity of my house.
If you are a bengali, then must have noticed only bengali Goddess has been offered anna bhog i.e, Khichuri, Rice or Pulao, not to the God(Male one). Like, this Bengali bhoger khichuri is prepared in Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Saraswati Puja, and even Jagatdhatri puja. But we don’t offer rice or khichdi in Satyanarayan puja, Shiv puja, and Vishwakarma puja.
In Kolkata, I never felt such a craving for bhoger khichuri as Maa Durga is worshipped in our own house. Every year during the Puja days, bhog has to serve Ma Durga first, then distributed it to all family members, relatives, and neighbours. So I have seen every year how the khichuri prasad is being prepared at my home. The first time I felt my utmost craving for bhoger khichuri was when I was expecting and not able to go to Kolkata during Durga Puja. After seeing my huge craving for khichuri bhog my husband took me to the puja pandal and brought some bhog prasad er khichuri with labra, brinjal fritter(beguni), chutney, sweet and payesh for me. Believe me, I was never been so happy to have khichuri bhog before.
I’ve experienced, bengali style niramish khichuri doesn’t taste so scrumptious if it’s not offered to God first. Since using the same khichuri recipe the other day, simply for lunch or dinner, won’t be able to get that divine taste and aroma.
I can remember in our childhood when Maa Saraswati was worshipped in our home, we woke up early in the morning and after offering pushpanjali to the goddess, used to go to our school for Devi Dharshan and have some prasad there. And most of the bengali schools either served bhoger khichuri with labra / niramish phulkopir torkari or bandhakopir torkari or alur dum beguni as a side dish with tomato’r chutney, papad and sweet. Or served lunch with luchi-aloo dum, cholar dal, begun bhaja, chutney, papad and sweet on that day. Even almost the same menu would wait for us with khichuri prasad at home.
Just a few days left for this year’s Saraswati puja, I decided to share this niramish bhoger khichuri recipe for the upcoming Saraswati puja. So must try this recipe at home. To get the best result, perfectly follow my step-by-step instructions. Don’t forget to let me know how this khichuri worked in your kitchen by leaving a comment in the comment section below. Your valuable comment means a lot to me. Happy Saraswati puja to all of my Bengali friends, celebrate this festival with your family and friends.
Though I’m going to post this recipe for the upcoming Saraswati puja. But you can use the same recipe for making it for Lakshmi puja, Durga Puja, Kali pujo & Jagatdhatri pujo. As this is an easy and common recipe for Bengali niramish khichuri bhog.
Serve this khichuri bhog with Bengali Labra Torkari or Niramish Bhoger Aloo Dum or Niramish Phulkopir Tarkari(no onion garlic Bengali cauliflower curry) or Bandhakopir Torkari(Bengali cabbage curry).
Try my other blog posts for Bengali lakshmi puja special niramish dishes
Bhoger khichuri recipe | Niramish khichuri bhog | Puja special Bengali moong dal khichdi
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Gobindo Bhog rice/Basmati rice
- 3/4 cup Sona Moong Dal/Organic Mung Dal
- 1 Potato(Medium)
- 7-8 Cauliflower Florets
- 1/2 cup Green Peas
- 1/2 cup chopped Tomato
- 1 1/2 tbsp Ginger paste
- 4 Green chillies
- 1 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Red Chilli powder
- 2 1/2 tsp Sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder(1 tsp cumin seeds, 1-inch cinnamon stick, 3-4 cloves, 3 cardamoms)
- 6-7 cups of Hot water
- 3-4 tbsp Ghee
- 1 tsp Whole Cumin Seeds
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Whole garam masala for tempering
- 5 tbsp Mustard Oil
- Salt(as per taste)
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Served in: 1 hr 10 mins
Course: Lunch
Cuisine: Bengali/Indian/Bangladesh
Served: 6 people
Author: Moumita Paul
How to make bhoger khichuri recipe with step by step pictures
Instructions
Soaking of dal & rice
- First, dry roast the moong dal until dal changes its colour to lite golden and a nice aroma comes from the roasted dal.
- Add water to that dal and thoroughly wash the dal to remove all the dirt.
- Then soak the dal in hot water(optional) until not used for cooking.
- Then wash gobindo bhog rice(or basmati rice instead) 5-6 times to clean it perfectly.
- And then soak the rice in water till it turns comes to cook.
Fry the vegetables(aloo & fulkopi)
- Heat a pan, and add 3 tbsp oil to it. Let the oil gets hot.
- Smear the potatoes(aloo) with 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1/4 tsp salt to fry them in oil.
- Fry the potatoes until golden, take out the potatoes from the pan. Keep it aside for later use.
- Wash the cauliflower florets(medium size florets) and smear them with 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp salt.
- Fry the cauliflower until golden and get the aroma of the fried cauliflower. Then remove it from the pan.
Making of khichuri’r masala
- Add 2 tbsp mustard oil to the pan(same pan).
- Add 2 whole red chillies, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp whole cumin seeds, 2 green cardamoms, 3 cloves and 1-inch cinnamon stick for tempering in the hot oil.
- When the nice aroma will come from whole spices, add chopped tomatoes and 1/4 tsp salt with it to quickly make it soft.
- Cover the pan with the lid.
- When the tomatoes get nice soft, add 1+1/2 tbsp ginger paste with 2 green chilli paste to the pan.
- Then add turmeric powder, cumin powder and chilli powder one by one to the pan.
- Add two green chillies(slit) and saute the masala until the raw smells of masalas go off.
- Then add 2-3 tbsp of water to the masalas to avoid burning of masalas.
Making of this khichuri
- When the masalas completely soak the water and start leaving oil from the sides as shown in the pic below.
- Add soaked moong dal and gobindo bhog rice(after draining the water) to the pan. Stir it well.
- Then add fried potatoes and keep stirring to mix them with the chaal daal (rice and dal) and masalas.
- Continuous stirring is mandatory at this stage.
- After stirring it for 3-4 minutes add 4 cups of hot water to it.
- Add 1+1/2 tbsp salt to it, stir it and cover it with its lid.
- Let it cook for 10-15 minutes on a slow flame.
- In this stage, frequently stir the khichuri to avoid burning from the bottom and after 10-15 mins add fried cauliflower florets to it.
- When you notice chaaldaal has completely soaked the water then add 2 cups of hot water to it.
- Cover with a lid and bring the chaaldaal to a boil.
- Then add the green peas to it. let it cook for 10-15 more mins on a slow flame.
- Check the khichuri frequently while cooking.
- After 10-15 mins when chaaldaal will be completely cooked with spices, then add 2+1/2 tsp sugar to this khichuri and mix it nicely.
- Then add some salt if required. Cook it for 3-4 mins on low to medium heat.
- Dry roast 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1-inch cinnamon stick, 3-4 cloves, and 3 cardamoms first.
- Then grind the dry roasted spices to make garam masala powder.
- Now mix this homemade garam masala powder with this khichuri.
- And after 2 mins of cooking this khichuri, switch off the flame.
- Then add 3-4 tbsp ghee to it and mix it well.
- Now again cover its lid for a few mins to spread the aroma of ghee all over this dish.
- Bhoger khichuri is ready, serve it with labra, begun bhaja, Niramish(no onion garlic) aloo dum, alu bhaja, bhoger aloo dum, Niramish aloo phulkopi’r torkari, chutney, payesh to God, the deity of your house(barir Thakur).
Tips & tricks about this recipe
For making this recipe few more things need to know, such as
- Soaking dal in hot water and soaking gobindo bhog rice in water(at room temperature) is not mandatory. Only this method will help you to cook the khichuri/khichdi in less time. Even you can cook this khichuri without soaking the chaaldaal.
- Always add hot water while making any khichuri/khichdi, otherwise, its taste might be bland.
- Add salt and sugar as per your requirement. Bhog er khichuri or niramish khichuri generally tastes a little sweet in taste than the normal one. So you can add more sugar to it as per your choice.
- I added green peas later to keep its bright green colour intact or overcooking can spoil their natural colour.
- I’ve lastly added sugar to this khichdi. As my mom says while boiling rice and moong dal, don’t add the sugar till rice and dal gets soft. Because the early addition of sugar can spoil its cooking process and rice-dal won’t be cooked perfectly.
- Even how I cook it in a pan, the same way you can cook it in a pressure cooker too. Just let one whistle blow on a high flame to cook rice, dal, potatoes & cauliflower together. When pressure releases, add green peas and the rest of the procedure is the same as mine.
Based on 7 Review(s)
This is too good. So authentic!
Thank you so much, Kasturi.