This highly nutritious khichdi-like sweet dish has been cooked for the last 5 centuries at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. The dish is made up of rice, wheat, sugar, ghee/ clarified butter, saffron, lotus seeds, apricots, pine nuts and dry fruits. While the ‘bade deg’ was donated by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1567AD, the dargah also has a ‘chote deg’, given by Akbar’s son Jehangir in 1613AD.
The traditional Indian ‘khichdi’ made headlines recently after noted chef Sanjeev Kapoor cooked up a Guinness World Record, making about 918kg of the superfood at one go. This didn’t come as much of a surprise for the caretakers of the shrine of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer- also known as the Ajmer Dargah Sharif-, where about 4,800kg of the ‘deg-ka-khana’, has been cooked in the ‘bade deg’ (big cauldron) for devotees over the last 450 years.
Food is cooked to capacity in these cauldrons on auspicious days or when the number of devotees at the dargah is very high or when someone makes a Mannat/ wish and donates a langar. Food has been served for centuries here and represents the true ethos of Sufi traditions. It is an example of serving humanity selflessly. But preparing the sweet dish in these cauldrons is no cakewalk.
Five families are in charge of cooking and have been doing it over generations. The process can take four to seven hours, depending on the quantity and weather. Cooking in cauldrons that have depths of 15 feet and 8 feet, respectively, is not easy and done using jumbo-sized ladles attached with ropes. At least four people stir the khichdi for two to four hours depending on the quantity.
The ingredients used in the dish were decided by a Mughal-era ‘hakim’ to make it nutritious enough to sustain a person for a day. For full capacity, the smaller cauldron requires 1,868kg rice and sugar along with 150kg pure ghee and 150kg dry fruits. Rest of the ingredients will weigh up to 25kg. Food is made as an offering by devotees to thank the Sufi saint or to grant him a wish.
As for a Mannat and donate a langar at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah today.