Eyeing world record, 5,000-kg khichdi cooked at Ramlila Maidan

In its outreach programme organised on Sunday at Ramlila Ground, the Delhi unit of Bharatiya Janata Party cooked 5,000 kilogram of khichdi, claiming to have topped a record created by the national party, last year. The event called Bhim Mahasangam was organised by the Delhi BJP's SC Morcha, with an eye on Dalit votes as the country goes to polls this year.

The local leadership roped in Nagpur based chef Vishnu Manohar to cook 'samrasta khichdi' using lentils and rice collected from over three lakh homes belonging to the backward classes. The chef and his team used 400 kg rice, 100 kg lentils, 350 kg vegetables, 100 kg desi ghee, 100 litres of oil, 2,500 litres of water and 250 kg spices to prepare the dish in a single cauldron that measured 10X10 feet in circumference, four feet deep and weighing 850 kg. The local chapter also hoped to break the previous record of cooking 3,000 kg khichdi at another BJP event organised at Nagpur in October last year. 

Union minister Nitin Gadkari was in attendance at that programme where the party attempted a similar feat, the same chef and his team in tow. Delhi BJP SC Morcha president, Mohan Lal Gihara claimed that the dish was served to around 25,000 people who thronged at the rally organised to exhibit the party's reach among the backward classes.

Speaking to DNA, Ashok Goel, spokesperson, Delhi BJP informed that all the ingredients were measured individually before finding their way into the 'vat'. Aiming to find its name in the Guinness Book of World Record, they also videographed the cooking right from a scratch. "A government officer was present at the occasion who validated the amount of various products we used. We recorded the whole thing and will soon be submitting the details to Guinness Book to recognise our achievement," he said.