‘Khichdi’ is set to enter the Guinness World Records as a team of two dozen people are attempting to cook 800 kg of the traditional rice-dal dish at the India Gate where the World Food India fair is underway.
To popularise khichdi in international markets, renowned Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor has undertaken the mammoth task, and himself supervised the night-long preparations.
To prepare 800 kg khichdi, a giant kadhai (frying pan) of 7-feet in diameter, with the capacity to hold 1,000 litres will be used.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, along with chefs Imtiaz Qureshi and Ranveer Brar are adding ‘tadka’ in the dish which will be served to an audience comprising ministers, delegates, ambassadors and foodies.
Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu and Union minister of food processing industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal are also present on the occasion.
The dish is being prepared with nutritious ingredients from diverse parts of the country. Rice, moong dal, bajra, jowar and Indian spices will be steam-cooked for the preparation before it is served to the audience on Saturday.
The mega khichdi preparation is part of the ‘Great Indian Food Street’ at the festival that features street food from 20 states. The work, put up on a concrete stand, remained the centre of attraction among those who visited the festival on Friday.
The event is taking place amid the recent controversy over claims naming khichdi as the National Food of India.
Despite clarifying that khichdi will not be declared as a national dish of India, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the dish is the ‘wonder staple food’ of the country.
