Khichdi is one of India’s most widespread and popular dishes, made in a variety of ways over several regions, mostly situated in the North. Made with rice and lentils, khichdi is very easy to make and has high nutritional value. It is also commonly given to babies as their first solid food due to their soft texture. 

This everyday staple food crops up throughout Indian mythology. One such story is about God Shani’s love for khichdi made with black lentils. It is said that his mother, Goddess Chhaya, performed extreme penance when he was in her womb, going without food and water for days, and practising severe austerity under the blazing sun. This made the baby in the womb dark, but not before he inherited great powers due to his mother’s penance. For this reason, it is believed that Shani loves dark-coloured foods, especially khichdi!

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Payasam, kheer, phirni, payasa; call it by any name, it tastes equally delicious. Prepared from just three basic ingredients i.e. milk, sugar, and rice, payasam is a type of rice pudding which is relished as a sweet dish in India. It is also offered to the presiding deity in many temples, especially in the temple of Krishna. Here’s why.

Krishna, in the form of an old sage, challenged the king of Ambalapuzha (in modern-day Kerala) to a game of chess. The prize, if he won, would be one grain of rice on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third and so on, doubling the amount on the previous square. The king brashly agreed.

Krishna, of course, won the game. The king started placing the rice grains and was shocked to see their number grow exponentially. By the end, he owed Krishna trillions of tons of rice!

Amused at the king’s confusion, Krishna revealed himself and said,

You don’t have to give it all today. Just provide payasam to every pilgrim who comes to my temple here, in search of comfort.”

Krishna’s wish is honoured even today and payasam is served freely to all who visit the Ambalapuzha Krishna temple in Kerala’s Alapuzha district.

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Historically speaking, pani puris are considered to be the evolutionary byproduct of the phulki, that originated in the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now a part of Bihar) in India. It was during the same time when we saw an explosion of different types of salty snacks or farsan. Unfortunately, there is no written record of the creator of the pani puri..

As per some of the versions of our mythological texts, the pani puri goes all the way back to the Mahabharata, invented by none other than Draupadi, the princess of Panchal and the wife of the Pandava princes. When the Pandavas were in exile, newly-married Draupadi was tested by her mother-in-law, Kunti. Kunti gave Draupadi the leftovers of a potato dish and wheat dough enough to make one small chapati, and told her to make sure the five princes did not go hungry. That’s when Draupadi came up with the idea of the pani puri. Kunti was taken aback with Draupadi’s ingenuity and blessed the dish with immortality.

The dish has since then travelled far and wide, adapting to the taste and traditions of various regions. No wonder, it has so many names and variants. Call it golgappa, pani ka pataasha, phuchka, or pani puri, we relish it in every form.

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