Type Stew Food energy
(per serving) High calory kcal | Main ingredients Meat, lentils, spices | |
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Place of origin India, Pakistan and Bangladesh Variations Beef khichra, chicken khichra, mutton khicra Places of origin India, Pakistan, Bangladesh Similar Haleem, Hyderabadi haleem, Dalcha, Paya, Gosht | ||
Khichra or Khichda (Urdu: کھچڑا) is a variation of the dish Haleem, popular with Muslims of South Asia and North India, especially Lucknow. Khichra is cooked all year and particularly during the holy month of Ramadaan. It is made up of beef, lentils and spices, slowly cooked to a thick paste. It is the meat based variant of the Indian rice dish called Khichdi.
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Origin
As per the Delhi based historian Sohail Hashmi, the Khichra originated as a famine relief measure in the North Indian city of Lucknow while building the Old Imambara of Lucknow. Due to a famine, the then Nawab of Awadh commenced the construction of an imambara, announcing that anyone who participated in the construction would be given free food. This free food consisted of rice slowly cooked with mutton and various pulses, thus becoming rich in protein and carbohydrates. This aided a number of famine affected people who would otherwise have died. Once the construction of the imambara was completed, the dish continued to get popular and can today be found not just in Lucknow, but a number of cities of the Indian sub continent. Travellers took this dish to other parts of South Asia, where it further acquired a local flavor.
Daleem, Khichra and Khichri
In South Asia, especially the Indian subcontinent, both Daleem and Khichra are made with same ingredients. Daleem is cooked until the meat blends with the lentils, while in Khichra chunks of meat remains as cubes.
Khichra is similar to Haleem and is a meat dish. While Khichri is a vegetarian dish with rice and pulses or lentils.
