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Investigating the Role of Grains, Pulses, Thermal Time, and Lipids in preparing the Nutritionally Complete and Perfect Khichdi

Dr. Zubin D’Souza

Published in July - December 2026 (Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2026)

Investigating the Role of Grains, Pulses, Thermal Time, and Lipids in preparing the Nutritionally Complete and Perfect Khichdi - Issue cover

Keywords

KhichdiNutritional EngineeringCulinary ScienceTraditional Food SystemsIndian Culinary Heritage

Abstract

For a structurally sophisticated dish such as khichdi, we have done it a great disfavour by equating it to comfort food or food to be served to convalescing individuals. Sometimes khichdi also gets relegated to the role of being considered a culinary minimalist creation. In the arguments put forward through this article, the author intends to demonstrate that despite the general nonchalance afforded to khichdi, it will be very evident after examining all the data available at hand that a khichdi is actually a complex, nutritionally engineered product that uses various interdependent variables that are set within the framework of a coherent food system. These variables are and are not limited to the demonstration of an amalgamation of grains, pulses, spice architecture, a lipid medium, and thermal duration function as a coalescing unit for interdependent variables within what is technically an extremely coherent food system. The endurance of khichdi as a beloved food of the masses, a fact that skips the typical roadblocks of class and in the Indian context, the class system points to a culinary dish that should not be viewed as a simple combination of ingredients but as a symbol of empirical precision that is built into and embedded within essential culinary practice. The fascination with khichdi is enhanced by a simple and logical look at its longevity at being at the centre of research. A basic khichdi is composed of very few ingredients and yet it has remained relevant both culturally and physically across varying contexts. It has remained constant despite changes in culinary trends and fashions, shifts in nutritional paradigms and beyond the evolution of agricultural systems. The khichdi has also traversed and stayed consistent within the frameworks of modern nutritional discourses and stretching way back to Vedic period ritual economies via route of British colonial reimagination, and Mughal royal kitchens. This is easily demonstrated by the fact that the variables themselves ensure that the decision to work out as to what could be a ‘perfect’ khichdi could be arrived at more from a contextual lens rather than one that is universal. Because, to these variables, we can also add individual digestive states and capacities, sociocultural framing, and specific metabolic demand of individuals. From the ancient texts that have focused on glycaemic modulation, complementarity of the cereal and pulses and their ratios, and a bioavailability of phytochemicals that appear to be lipid-mediated, to the latter-day dismissal by British historians as a ‘humble porridge’, Indo-Persian records and contemporary nutritional science that believes it to be a superfood, the multi-faceted complexities of a khichdi need to be unravelled in a phased manner. This research paper aims to work on one such specific aspect.

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Dr. Zubin D’Souza

IHM – Aurangabad

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Published in:

July - December 2026 (Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2026)

JHTCP110007

JHTCP-01-000007

1-26

2026-07-20

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Zubin, D., (2026). Investigating the Role of Grains, Pulses, Thermal Time, and Lipids in preparing the Nutritionally Complete and Perfect Khichdi. Re-IMAGINE The Journal for Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary Professionals, 1(1), 1-26. https://journalihma.org/articles/JHTCP110007

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