India takes aim at Guinness World record with 800kg khichuri

In an effort to secure a place in Guinness World Records, a group of around 12 people cooked over 800kg of khichuri in India. The event took place at the India Gate lawns in New Delhi. It is part of the ongoing ‘Great Indian Food Street’ festival that features street food from India's 20 states. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev put seasoning for the dish in the presence of an audience that included ministers, delegates, ambassadors and foodies – which apparently added zest to the festival. Officials from Guinness World Records were yet to confirm if a record had been made, reports The Hindustan Times. The preparations for the dish took a night-long of supervision by the renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor. The organisers chose the dish as it symbolised India’s “unity in diversity” and is eaten by people of all classes. “Khichdi” (the Hindi variation of the word khichuri) started trending on social media right after it was announced that the dish would be showcased as Brand India food at a November 4 World Food India event. Twitter users are debating over the decision.

The world-record attempt of making #Khichdi in the 1000-lt wok underway at the #WorldIndiaFood @htdelhi @htTweets pic.twitter.com/qMtK7jYv9o

— Gulam Jeelani (@jeelanikash) 4 November 2017

On Thursday, India's Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal tweeted: “Enough Khichdi cooked up on a fictitious ‘National Dish’. It has only been put for a record entry in #WorldFoodIndia.”

Enough Khichdi cooked up on a fictitious 'National Dish’. It has only been put for a record entry in #WorldFoodIndia.

— Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) 1 November 2017

Chef Kapoor shed some light on his intention and said: “The world should know whatever we have been processing. The intent is to promote Indian culinary in front of a global audience and in a way benefit farmers at the grass root level.” One of the cooking assistants said: “A portion of the khichdi will also be packed and sent to all the heads of foreign missions in India, along with the recipe.” Apart from the khichdi event, the festival also promotes other traditional Indian products and cuisines.