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In Kayastha homes, khus khus (poppy seed) curry was once a regular winter dish. Today, very few families prepare it. My grandmother and sister-in-law would make it lovingly during the cold months.
They also made nishashta from khus khus, a dish that gave warmth and kept us protected from the winter chill.
Khus khus ki sabji
Ingredients
1 cup/120 g khus khus seeds
1/2 cup kaccha chawal (uncooked rice)
1/3 cup raw chana dal
1 large pyaz (onion)
1 tbsp of lahsun ka paste (garlic paste)
1 tsp turmeric
1 and 1/2 tsp lal mirch powder (red chilli powder)
2 tsp of dhaniya powder (coriander powder)
4 tbsp of sarson ka tel (mustard oil)
Salt (to taste)
Method
Soak the khus khus, rice, and chana dal in separate bowls of water for at least four hours. Once soaked, grind each ingredient into a paste, either on a silbatta (grindstone) or in a mixie. The khus khus can be tricky to grind in a mixie, so for convenience you may combine it with the rice and dal to make a coarse paste, though the silbatta will give a more grainy and traditional texture.
Separately, grind the onion and garlic into a paste as well, adding two to three dry red chillies to the garlic if you prefer extra heat.
Next, heat oil in a pan until it begins to smoke, then immediately lower the heat. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, quickly followed by the onion-garlic paste so the turmeric does not burn. Stir in the dry spices—dhaniya powder and red chilli powder and let this masala cook gently for about five minutes. After this, add the rice paste, followed by the dal paste and finally the khus khus paste, mixing each in well before adding the next. Keep stirring the mixture continuously until it turns a deep, dark colour and releases a rich aroma. At this stage, the masala base is ready.
Hem Lata Srivastava is a homemaker, food blogger and influencer from New Delhi