Aaj to ben ne khichdi banai hogi!
Today sister must have prepared khichdi!

It is said that food has an emotional connection. For each one of us, the definition of comfort food is different. It is usually that food that we have grown up eating and have good memories attached to it. For some people, a dish cooked in mustard oil can mean heaven. At the same time, some people may not be able to bear its smell.

So, Khichdi can evoke different emotions for different people based on the memories associated with it. For some people, it may signify ease of cooking, a whole meal, while for others, it may remind of an illness. For me, khichdi represents freedom and fun.

I grew up at my grandparents’ place. We were five children: me, my younger sister, my two mamas (mother’s brother), and my masi (mother’s sister). My masi was the eldest among us, and when my grandparents went out, she was the one who took care of us.

Sometimes, if she was busy with her studies, she used to cook khichdi for us as it was quick and easy to make. It is a one-pot meal. Another reason was that most of us liked eating khichdi with ghee and pickles. I loved it, and probably I was the fussiest among the five of us. So soon, khichdi became our go-to dinner in the absence of my grandmother. Even our house help, whom we called kaka, used to enjoy the khichdi cooked by my masi and would say that today Ben(sister) must have cooked khichdi.

In our grandparents’ absence, we had all the freedom to play or watch TV as long as we wanted.

So, even today, khichdi is my go-to comfort food as it is linked to my happy, fun-filled childhood memories.