At Mumbai eatery chain, humble Khichdi is haute-cuisine

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Guess what dish turns on Jitendra Shah, a Mumbai-based tour operator-turned-restaurateur? Something that turns off most people, the humble and dismissively prepared Khichdi. This backbencher dish has been an all-time favorite of Shah, who has been relishing the concoction prepared by his mother and grandmothers (both maternal/paternal) for years. However, it was only at the age of 60 that he could muster the courage to bring Khichdi to the forefront of Mumbaikars' palates, offering them delicious plates of the simple preparation as haute-cuisine in the luring ambiance of his four restaurants, "Khichdi - The Global Food".

"I still remember how my mother and grandmothers used to casually prepare khichdi, as a quick snack or a full meal, when the kids were ill, and occasionally for the school tiffin. Sometimes, they whipped up a khichdi as the main course for lunch/dinner for the entire family when they secretly desired an off from the cumbersome kitchen chores," Shah told IANS with a chuckle. The khichdi came with a variety of aromatic home-made spices, with rice and one or more dals (pulses), served with a large dollop of pure cow-ghee as an icing on the bubbly hot delight, mostly as an independent dish, but occasionally accompanied by curd curry, liquid dal, buttermilk, or lassi to wash it down smoothly.

"Indeed, those were hearty meals, all family members relished it till their tummies were full, but nobody ever fell ill, and our original 'Kitchen Queens' also enjoyed a sort of weekly off, thanks to the khichdi celebration," Shah recalled. Having left his native Jamnagar (Gujarat) to become a domestic and global tour operator in 1987, Shah roamed around the world with his Heena Tours but often suffered from khichdi pangs, especially abroad where the culinary options were limited. "As the tour numbers soared, the Indian tourists demanded home-style food in alien lands. I started taking Indian cooks, who made it a point to serve at least 50 percent of all meals as khichdi in different varieties. My patrons would go wild with joy, enjoying piping hot khichdi in the bone-chilling cold of Russia, the snowy Alps of Switzerland, near the Niagara Falls in USA and Canada, cold rains in Australia, cool climes of Europe, China, et al," he said.

At his outlets in Mumbai's Vile Parle, Mulund, Ghatkopar, and Borivali (from next week), Shah started with a manageable 25 khichdi varieties, which were lapped up by the hungry patrons faster than they were cooked in huge earthen pots. Now, it has gone up to 111 khichdi varieties and with further research, he promises to offer a whopping 250-strong all-khichdi menu, covering all states, regions, community specialties, etc. "Khichdi finds a reference in our ancient texts, during the Mohenjo Daro era of the Indus Valley Civilisation nearly 4,500 years ago. Unfortunately, its significance has dimmed only in the past five decades with the advent of so-called 'fast foods'. Through my restaurants, I have tried to revive it and people have endorsed it," he said modestly.

"If Café Coffee Day, McDonald's, Starbucks and Pizza outlets can lure people with their limited offerings, Khichdi stands an even better chance, for its high nutritional value, health benefits and historical linkage. It's a culturally unifying dish," said Shah. Before launching the first outlet in mid-2018 without fanfare, for six months Shah conducted thorough research on khichdi prepared all over India, then took great pains to source the local spices, the huge earthen vessels made with the right kind of earth for the cooking. "Then, the bigger challenge was - training my bewildered retinue of professional chefs on how to cook the most common dish of Indian kitchens! They had heard of and even tasted 'khichdi' at home, but never prepared it professionally in huge quantities for restaurants," he laughed.

Group CEO Tina Joshi said hungry patrons at the restaurants daily await their turn, but weekends, in particular, witnessed a rush of customers all thronging to gulp their preferred variant of khichdi from Parsi, Kashmiri, Swaminarayan, Gujarati-Kathiawadi, Rajasthani, Hyderabadi, Kashmiri, Punjabi, fusion, etc, with a generous dollop of pure cow-ghee. So, besides genuine khichdi varieties from almost every state in India (except the Northeast), Shah has attempted a fusion khichdi with Italian, Chinese, Spanish, pizza or burger flavors, and other styles of global cuisine and the customers, particularly the gen-next, seem to get a khichdi to kick out of it. "At one point in time, this very khichdi enjoyed an unglamourous reputation, considered a cheap item for the sick and poor. That's because doctors recommended it to patients for its nutrition value, and charitable organizations routinely prepared and distributed it en masse to poor queueing outside religious places," Shah smiled.

However, at Shah's outlets, a proper khichdi meal can cost around Rs 350/head, and there are different options, combos, accompaniments, etc, said Joshi. After lip-smacking success in Mumbai, Shah plans to launch at least four outlets annually in India, plus venture abroad to bring the best of the humble khichdi to the Indian diaspora. "Then, we plan to dehydrate and sell dry packets of ready-to-eat Khichdi with a long shelf-life, easy to carry-consume anywhere in the world, just pour in a cup of hot water and enjoy. It will be available through global online marketing companies," Shah said, ordering his favorite plate of mouthwatering Gujarati-Kathiawadi khichdi.