antipinkkitten Introduction to the end of the Persian Empire
Happy Sunday, everyone. We have come to the end of the Persian Empire, with the invasion of Northern India. With that, Persia brought some aspects, but the Northern Indian region had many interesting flavors on their own. We had to do a lot of research on ingredients and it was a fun conversation. Traditionally, we associate Indian culture with things like chilis, tomatoes, potatoes and other food elements with their origins in the Americas.
The history of Khichdi
We have records of the dish, Khichdi, cooked throughout the ages. Though it has variations throughout the different states of India, it is considered to be a comfort, baby or sickness food, due to its texture. The core ingredients throughout the country are simply lentils and rice, with changes to spices, additions of vegetables and in the modern era, chilis.
We know Khichdi was present in records from the 10th to 11th century c.e. Nased on our knowledge of foods that were available to individuals during the time period of the Persian Invasion; it can be postulated that it could have been a common dish during that point in history.
For the recipe, we utilized an existing recipe from Priya Krishna, from her book “Indian(-ish)”, modifying to remove ingredients that would not have been present until colonialism.
Ancient Persian adaptation of Khichdi
Khichdi with Roti
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of split green mung beans
- 1/2 cup dry (uncooked) basmati rice
- 1 tsp of whole black peppercorns
- 1 tsp of ground turmeric
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- 6 cups of water
- 1/4 cup of ghee
- 2 tsp of cumin seeds
- Pinch of asafetida
- 1 can of chickpeas
Instructions
- Before you start on the Dal, I recommend you start making the Roti. Rather than copy an existing recipe, I want to give attribution to Manali from Cooking with Manali.
- Rinse 1/2 cup of rice until water runs clear.
- Add water, split green mung beans, rinsed rice, peppercorns, ground turmeric and sea salt to stock pot.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- While it’s cooking, warm the ghee in a skillet, and once melted, add cumin seeds. Lightly brown the cumin seeds, then add the asafetida to the mixture.
- Add Ghee mixture to the Dal, along with the chickpeas. Combine and remove from heat, with the lid on.
Notes
The recipe for Roti was gathered from Manali – https://www.cookwithmanali.com/roti-recipe/
I recommend you read her blog on this to understand the history of the recipe and other aspects of preparing these. It’s a great insight that I cannot provide.
Reviews
Meghan’s Review
3 out of 5 stars
I hate to say this – I wish this could have been better. It was really bland, and would have benefited greatly from aspects that had to be removed (chilis, etc). With this, I feel as if this dish will likely be a 5 once we spice it up for leftovers. But, it being made as history made it; it’s a 3.
Bradly’s Review
2 out of 5 stars
It was exceptionally plain and the large amount of peppercorns was not enough to provide it more flavor.
The roti was nice and filling, sitting heavy in the stomach. Nevertheless, after a couple of hours, I was extremely hungry again. If I was going to make it, regardless of time period, I’d make it exactly how the recipe was.
Noting the lack of Brad
You may have noticed our traditional history segment is missing from this week. This is due to some medical issues that Brad has been going through, that’s had us in-and-out of doctors, hospitals and phone calls with medical professionals for the last two weeks. He’s planning to write up the history portion later this week, so I will add it. But, that’s why you may not see him as involved in upcoming posts. However, feel free to drop him well-wishes and check out what he has been able to do, like his livestreams or Brad’s Labs online.
