I wouldn’t say that most of the foods in Bengali cuisine are the healthiest, but in Indian foods, generally Khichdi is one of the healthiest foods out there. Khichdi is a dish that consists mainly of lentils and rice. I’ve heard that it’s typically one of the first foods a baby eats when their teeth grow in. People normally have it when they’re sick and want something more soupy, when they have a sore throat, or during puja season as prasad.

I think it’s cool that there are a lot of health benefits, considering it does not have a lot in it. Khichdi improves immunity, detoxes your digestive system, and even has properties to keep diabetes under control. But like I said before, there does not have to be much in it; just rice, lentils, and vegetables.

I wanted to talk about this because my sister recently got my mother an Instant-Pot for her birthday, and they wanted to try making Khichdi in it. The Instant-Pot is supposed to cut down cooking times, so my mother especially wanted to see how much time it would take it to make something that typically took her a few hours. And while it wasn’t the consistency she usually makes it, the pot made it in one-and-a-half hours (much to her dismay). My mom is a traditional person so she didn’t exactly appreciate how it felt like she was cheating cooking, but she liked how she did not have to spend so much time cooking.