As far back as memory allows me, I remember Ashura to be a somber, low key phase in the house.

My Nani was a Sunni Syed with her surname beginning with a Shah and ending with a Haq. Nani was a certified Saidaani too.

I was the first grandchild and so much wish was everyone’s command. 5 months before my Mamu (uncle)’S wedding I summoned a Dholak and it magically appeared.

However a month later as Muharram approached it disappeared equally magically.

This was my favourite pastime after school. I would run back home just to play with my new instrument and one fine day it was gone.

Running around like. Headless chicken when I failed to find it I asked my Nani of its whereabouts.

“Muharram Ka chaand nazar aa gya hai, aglay maheenay vaapas mil jaaye gi ” (Muharram’s moon was sighted. You can have it back in a month)

Perplexed I questioned because Political Correctness isn’t exactly what an eight year old thinks of and sadly a muted discriminatory society that we lived in. “Ammi kya hum Shia hein?” (Ammi are we Shia?)

“Nahin baita lekin navaasa é Rusool ka ehteraam laazim hai” (No darling but respect for the Prophet’s Grandson is essential)

Every Muharram I would see sewing machines, new clothes and music disappear, television volumes lowered. Nani fasting, watching Shaamé Ghariban by Allama Talib Jauhari, Salam é aakhir by Nasir Jehan and crying, Mamu humming Ghabraaye gi Zainab under his breath.

We would receive Haleem from other neighbours but always Cooked our own favourite Khichra that we loved dearly and awaited all year.

This year I wanted to cook it and had the baseline recipe from my khala but my Khalu passed away on the 7th of Muharram. In the midst of mourning I couldn’t have possibly asked anyone for the specific details. So I did a quick search and combined a few recipes to come up with this version that turned out so fantastic, my Khichra virgin husband had three helpings in one go and my largest pot was wiped clean in a day.

Definitely DEFINITELY a keeper but while looking it up I did stumble upon the information that this originally has a bit of history behind it.

Khichra, Haleem, Harisa are all derivatives of a one pot meal cooked for congregational crowds. Coming from Persia it was a regular for any congregational event and this common menu choice for Majaalis.

Bohra Muslims especially in Calcutta (Kolkata) are known for their Khichro or Khichra. They traditionally do not put anything dark or coloured in it so the outcome is a whiter concoction (no turmeric or coriander powder)

My Nani’s recipe did include turmeric and coriander powder etc and was not exactly white but I switched that for this and went with the whiter Khichra idea because, adventure.

Here is the hybrid recipe I came up with and am saving for all times to follow.

INGREDIENTS

GRAINS

• 2 cups Broken wheat or dalia

• 3/4 cup Sabit Masoor dal

• Half cup Chhilka Mung Dal

• Half cup Chhilka Mash Dal

• Half cup Chana dal

• Half cup Rice

FOR THE MEAT

• 1 kg Beef (or any red meat of your choice. I used Mutton)

• 1 kg Onions

• 3 tablespoons Ginger Garlic Paste

• 2 Green chillies (you can use more)

• 6 pcs Black Cardamom (whole)

• 2 pcs Cinnamon (whole)

• 6 pcs Cloves (whole)

• 10 pcs Peppercorns

• 2 pcs Star Anise

• 2 pcs Bay leaves

• 1/4 tsp Garam masala powder

• 2 teaspoon Salt (or according to taste)

LIQUIDS

• 1.5 litre Water

• 3/4 litre Milk

FAT

• quarter cup Vegetable oil

• half cup Ghee

GARNISH

• 1 bunch Mint leaves

• 2 inch piece Ginger

• Lemon wedges

• 4-5 Green chillies

METHOD

STEP I—SOAKING GRAINS

1. Take the broken wheat, dals, and rice in a bowl. Rinse them well and soak overnight, for at least 12 hours.

So here is where the difference comes in. Soak together if you have an insta pot or a pressure cooker. I had neither so I soaked them separately and for 24 hours.

STEP II—FRYING ONIONS (Biryaan)

1. Finely Slice 3/4 of the onions. (Remove the root of the bulb. This will help separate each piece of onion)

2. Using your hand, scrunch up the slices to separate each layer.

3. Heat vegetable oil, on medium heat. Once hot, drop a handful of the onion slices. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan; the onions must fry in a single layer.

4. Using a fork, move the onions around every so often so that they fry evenly.

5. Just as the onions start to turn golden (do not wait until they have already turned golden), start removing them from the pan and draining them over a perforated utensil. Keep a close watch, as the onions tend to burn very quickly towards the end. Remove them from the oil before they have taken on the desired colour; they will continue to cook in the residual heat.

6. Allow them to cool and crisp up. This caramelised onion is called biryaan and gives a fantastic grounding baseline to any food you cook that has a gravy. This process should yield about 25 per cent the weight of raw onions). It can be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 weeks.

STEP III—COOKING MEAT

1. Using a grinder or mortar and pestle, form a smooth paste of green chillies, mix with the ginger garlic paste and set aside.

2. Heat quarter of a cup vegetable oil. Once hot, brown the meat in batches, from all sides, till it is golden.

3. Remove from the pan and set aside.

4. Temper the same oil with bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and peppercorns.

5. Add the remaining sliced onions, along with 2 teaspoons salt. Stirring intermittently, fry on medium heat for about 10 minutes till the onions turn brown.

6. Next, add in the ginger-garlic-green-chilli paste and fry for another 3 minutes, until the smell of the raw spices is gone.

7. Add the garam masala powder and add half of the Biryaan (fried onions) we prepared earlier.

8. Add the browned pieces of meat to the onion mixture and sauté for about 2 minutes.

9. Transfer everything from this pot to a pressure cooker. Add 1.5 litre of water, close the lid, and pressure cook for about 1 hour. The meat should be completely soft by this stage, such that it easily falls off the bone.

For cooking without such paraphernalia, simply add 2 litres water and allow it to cook until the meat falls off the bones. Can take up to 1.5 hours depending on your meat quality. If at any point in time you feel water is drying out and the meat isn’t cooked enough, add more boiling water (not cold).

STEP IV—SEPARATING MEAT, BROTH, AND BONES

1. Pick out the meat pieces. Just as they are cool enough to handle, remove the bones, cartilage, and any hard, unrendered collagen that is still in the meat. Discard these, along with the bay leaves and other whole spices.

2. You should now be left with a gorgeous meaty broth, and some boneless pieces of tender meat. At this stage, you can put the meat and broth in the fridge and complete the rest of the preparation the following day.

STEP V—CHOPPING MEAT

1. Chop the meat, against the grain, into 3-cm chunks. Chilling the meat before chopping hardens the collagen rendered from the meat, making it easy to cut into cubes.

2. Divide the meat into two piles. The first will be ground along with the grains, and the second added whole towards the end.

STEP VI—BOILING GRAINS

1. Strain the water from the soaked grains, and transfer the latter to a pressure cooker or a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the broth we prepared earlier to the pan. (If you placed the broth in the fridge overnight, do not forget to first bring it to boil before adding it to the grains.)

It is advisable that you either cook the wheat separately or all grains separately otherwise some soften quicker and others don’t, causing some of it to sink to the bottom and burn while the rest becoming tougher.

If you have a pressure cooker or Insta Pot, then just put everything together and let it cook.

1. Now add 1 tsp of salt and the first pile of the chopped meat and half the hot milk.

2. On low heat, let it all bubble for at least 2 hours, stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick in the bottom, till the the grains and meat are well mixed and the entire thing looks much more well gelled and a little darker. Boiling the grains in the broth rather than in water intensifies the meaty flavour of the dish.

STEP VII—BLENDING EVERYTHING

1. Transfer half of the boiled grains into a blender and grind till everything breaks down. Depending on the size of your blender jar, you may have to do this in batches.

2. Return the it all to the pot. Add the remaining chunks of meat, along with the remaining half of the hot milk. Mix until uniform. Bring to a boil before turning off the heat.

STEP VIII—GARNISHING

1. For the garnish, julienne some ginger, cut limes into wedges, split green chillies lengthwise, and finely chop the mint leaves.

2. Drop ladles of the khichra into a serving dish. Top it with a generous amount of Biryaan and chopped mint leaves.

3. Heat a pan till it is extremely hot. Add a spoonful of ghee and wait for it to smoke. Then add some julienned ginger and split green chillies. Fry for about 5 seconds and pour the contents of the pan (along with the ghee) over the serving dish.

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