Khichdi (dish)

Khichdi or khichri (کھچڑی, खिचड़ी, ˈkhɪtʃɽiː, খিচুড়ি, Odia: ଖେଚୁଡି) is a dish in South Asian cuisine made of rice and lentils (dal) with numerous variations. Variations include bajra and mung dal khichri. In Indian culture, in several regions, especially in the northern areas, it is considered one of the first solid foods that babies eat. The word Khichdī is derived from Sanskrit खिच्चा ISO, a dish of rice and legumes. Some divergence of transliteration may be noted in the third consonant in the word khicṛī. The sound is the retroflex flap ɽ, which is written in Hindi with the Devanagari letter ⟨ड़⟩, and in Urdu script with the Perso-Arabic letter ⟨⟩. In Hindustani phonology, the etymological origin of the retroflex flap was ɖ when it occurred between vowels. Hence in Devanagari the letter ⟨ड⟩, representing /ɖ/, was adapted to write /ɽ/ by adding a diacritic under it. In Urdu script, the phonological quality of the flap was represented by adapting the letter ⟨⟩, representing /r/, with a diacritic added above it to indicate the retroflex quality. The occurrence of this consonant in the word has given rise to two alternative spellings in English: khichri, which reflects its phonology, and khichdi, which reflects its etymology. The Greek king Seleucus during his campaign in India (305-303 BC), mentioned that rice with pulses is very popular among people of the Indian subcontinent. Strabo also notes that Indian food mainly consisted of rice porridge and a beverage made of rice, presently called arak. The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta mentions khichdi as a dish in India composed of rice and mung beans, during his stay around 1350. khichdi is described in the writings of Afanasiy Nikitin, a Russian adventurer who travelled to the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century. It was very popular with the Mughals, especially Jahangir. Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century document written by Mughal Emperor Akbar's vizier, Abu'l Fadl, mentions the recipe for khichdi, which gives seven variations.