Genius Recipes
The South Indian Comfort Food We All Need
Chitra Agrawal’s khara huggi is the Genius recipe to make most things feel better.
Every week in Genius Recipes—often with your help!—Food52 Creative Director and lifelong Genius-hunter Kristen Miglore is unearthing recipes that will change the way you cook.
When I’ve found myself overwhelmed and stymied lately, or uninspired by the repetitious cooking of the five meals my family knows by heart, this recipe has consoled me, in even more ways than expected.
It’s a largely one-pot, complete vegetarian meal of creamy rice and lentils—cozy and restorative enough that in South India, versions of this recipe are often served to babies and the unwell, but easy to dress up in times you’d like more brightness or spice.
Of its gentle ways, author and Brooklyn Delhi founder Chitra Agrawal writes in her beautiful cookbook Vibrant India, “Fittingly named, huggi is the ultimate comfort food.”
She explains this version is known as khara huggi in Kannada—the language her mother spoke growing up in Bangalore—to differentiate its savoriness from sweet huggi commonly served as dessert. It's also known as pongal in Tamil.
“Many people know khichdi,” Chitra told me, the Hindi name of the equally cozy rice and lentil dish made in North India, where her father’s from. "This recipe is actually enjoyed throughout India but will vary in name and spices used depending on the region."
Of huggi and its kin, Chitra says, “You definitely feel like you’re being hugged when eating it.”
I do. It’s a big bear hug, maybe even more so than with the comfort foods of my own childhood—thanks to the mellow, earthly grounding of toasted spices like cumin and black pepper, and the feeling of not only tucking into a special treat, but being lastingly nourished, too.
It’s also the acts of cooking huggi that soothe: washing rice and toasting dal, bronzing cashews, igniting crushed spices in a swirl of ghee and pouring them, sputtering, over your pot of huggi (1), knowing and seeing that each of these steps makes a difference. (2)
And perhaps the most cathartic, and most impactful, is the moment you take your pot of perfectly steamed, turmeric-tinted rice and lentils, pour in more water, dive in with your spoon, and bash it all up. Chitra added this genius step to her mother’s recipe to get the texture just right.
The huggi immediately turns creamy and porridge-like, as it should be. There is no fear of overcooking or oversaturating your rice here. You will not fail your huggi. Much like with Chinese congee, Filipinio arroz caldo, and other rice-based porridges, it’s the silky side of the grain you’re after, along with equally compliant dal.
Chitra likes topping her huggi with tangy and spicy condiments, like yogurt or lemon. Or the achaars—spicy-tangy-funky-unforgettable sauces—she sells at Brooklyn Delhi (once you start, you will want to put them on everything else, too). Or you can eat it the traditional way, with more melted ghee or butter on top. “This,” Chitra says, “is when people go to town.”
| 1 | cup basmati rice, preferably Dehraduni or jasmine rice |
| 1/3 | cup moong dal or masoor dal |
| 1 | teaspoon peeled grated ginger |
| 1/4 | teaspoon turmeric powder |
| 4 | tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon ghee or unsalted butter, divided |
| 2 | tablespoons cashews, broken into large pieces |
| 1 | teaspoon cumin seeds or ground cumin |
| 1/2 | teaspoon whole black peppercorns or freshly ground black pepper |
| 1/4 | cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut |
| 1 1/4 | teaspoons kosher salt |
| Big pinch of asafetida (hing) powder |
| 1 | cup basmati rice, preferably Dehraduni or jasmine rice |
| 1/3 | cup moong dal or masoor dal |
| 1 | teaspoon peeled grated ginger |
| 1/4 | teaspoon turmeric powder |
| 4 | tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon ghee or unsalted butter, divided |
| 2 | tablespoons cashews, broken into large pieces |
| 1 | teaspoon cumin seeds or ground cumin |
| 1/2 | teaspoon whole black peppercorns or freshly ground black pepper |
| 1/4 | cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut |
| 1 1/4 | teaspoons kosher salt |
| Big pinch of asafetida (hing) powder |
(1) For more on this foundational Indian technique of frying spices (and sometimes other aromatics) in hot fat to toast and infuse their flavor into a dish—known as chaunk, tadka, baghaar, and many other names across India—read this story by Chitra over at Epicurious.
(2) If you’re missing any of the spices or dal and would like to keep them on hand in your pantry, Kalustyan’s carries ingredients from all over the world and ships fast.
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Written by: Kristen Miglore
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21 Comments
Anyway, this is khichdi. Just wanted to say that.
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