Bhuna Khichuri (Bengali Roasted Moong Dal and Rice)

Bhuna khichuri is probably my favorite rice and lentil dish. It is a deeply comforting and nourishing recipe. I often make it when I want something healing. If I have homemade ghee on hand I add a dollop on top of the rice. I always feel better after I eat this khichuri!

There were various versions of this dish made in my family, but there was only one version I really disliked, the one that was made when someone was sick. It was almost like a medicine, since it was made with masoor dal, which breaks down more easily and is easy to digest. The “medicinal” version was watery and bland—rice and lentils were simply boiled together until they became total mush, with the consistency of thick soup. Unfortunately, even if you were not sick you had to eat the same food as your siblings, since no one was going to cook anything special for you. I thought that was so unfair—not only did you have to go to school, since you were not sick, but when you came home you had to eat the bland rice and lentil dish.

Bhuna khichuri is completely different. Cooked with a lot more care, it has a wonderful smoky, earthy fragrance as the lentils are dry-roasted before cooking. The roasted dal does not break down and keeps its shape. It is garnished with the fried onions. We would eat this year-round, but my memory is of us eating this rice dish during the late monsoons, which was always malaria season and invariably a time when many people became unwell. This was usually served in my house with a couple of accompanying bhortas.

This recipe was excerpted from 'Ammu' by Asma Khan. Buy the full book on Amazon. This book was selected as one of the Epicurious top cookbooks of 2022.