Khichdi recipe to enhance food value

The Telegraph
Calcutta, India

SMITA BHATTACHARYYA
Jorhat, Sept. 27: Here’s a simple khichdi recipe: rice, dal and potatoes. Now, add some punch: to rice, stir in sprouted moong, a handful of soya nuggets and a sprinkling of dhekia (a fern).

Voila, not only a tasty khichdi but a more nutritious one is ready.

The food and nutrition department of the College of Home Science under Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat has come up with this recipe to enhance the food value of the government’s midday meal scheme for schoolchildren. Teachers and students of the department have demonstrated the way to make this khichdi at no additional cost at several programmes held in remote schools in Jorhat district recently.

The head of the department, Basanti Baroova, said usually the school serves khichdi made of rice, dal and potatoes but “we have shown that at no additional cost one can make a healthier dish”.

“The teachers and parents gathered on the occasion were told about the nutritional value of each item. Dhekia, which is available in plenty in the fields, is rich in micro-nutrients — vitamins and minerals. Sprouted moong, to be used in place of masoor dal (red lentil), is a source of vitamin C and protein and soya has vegetable protein besides rice which provides the carbohydrate. Ours is not just to demonstrate but to educate. We do not give them fish but teach them to capture fish so that they can feed themselves and feed others as well,” Baroova said.

Mamoni Das, another teacher of the home science department, said in every such programme held so far, the department had attempted a holistic approach to build a healthy society. “Our target is not just to better the food of schoolchildren but the whole family and that is why we address the women of the village who cook the food. In one such programme held at the Upar Deori ME School recently, pointers were given as to what constitutes a nutritional diet and what is unhealthy. We tell them about the food value of all things which are usually consumed daily and if they can replace it with something more nutritious — the stress being on greens and other items found in the surroundings,” Das said.

Jashodha Deori, a parent present at one of the meetings, said she would henceforth try to give her children raw peanuts instead of the fried variety and sprouted gram instead of biscuits at snack time.

Anup Deori, an assistant at the school, said they would try to cook the khichdi as demonstrated by the home science department, as it was packed with more nutrients.

To a query on whether the food of the villagers was deficient in nutrients, Baroova said apparently they looked healthy but 80 per cent of women in the country are anaemic and “if we look deeply you will find many suffering from skin and other deficiency-related diseases”.

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