Know more about ‘laapsi’, the sweet dish Jaya Bachchan offered to Amitabh on his birthday on KBC set
It was a rather sentimental birthday for Amitabh Bachchan, as he celebrated his 80th on the sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati, of which he has been a longtime host.
The actor, who is often hailed as a ‘superstar’ and has a massive fan following across the world, was joined his son Abhishek Bachchan — who took over hosting duties — and wife Jaya Bachchan.
The rest of the Bachchan family — along with extended family members — joined in virtually and wished the actor on his birthday, including daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, grandkids, brother Ajitabh and even Jaya’s mother.
During the show, as the trio looked back on the octogenarian’s journey — through his films and personal anecdotes from childhood — Jaya, an actor and a politician, revealed some lesser-known facts about her husband, like how he is a melophile (someone who loves music) and his cultural and artic connect with West Bengal.
At one point, she furnished a little silver bowl with a sweet dish in it, and fed it to her husband, who smacked his lips with childlike enthusiasm as he relished it. Jaya quizzed him as to where it is from and while Amitabh wrongly guessed West Bengal, his wife revealed it is popular in Uttar Pradesh from where he hails.
The ‘Paa‘ actor was born in 1942 in Allahabad — now Prayagraj.
Team KBC then proceeded to play an old video, in which a much-younger Amitabh was seen joking with his late father, poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, about a dish called ‘laapsi’, stating that a person who turns ‘assi‘ (80) eats laapsi.
Know more about the dish
Not just in Uttar Pradesh, laapsi is also extremely popular in states like Rajasthan and Gujarat. It is traditionally made during Navratri; it is also known as broken wheat pudding that is made with jaggery.
There are many types of laapsi, whose main ingredient can change: aate ki laapsi (whole wheat flour), suji or rava ki laapsi (semolina), dalia laapsi (broken wheat). (Photo: Getty/Thinkstock)
Indian Express had previously shared a recipe; check it out here.
Preparation time: 5 minutesCooking time: 30 minutesServes: 4-5
Ingredients
– 1 cup broken wheat (dalia)– 1 cup jaggery, grated– 4 cups water– ¼th cup grated coconut– 2 tsp green cardamoms powder– 2 tbsps ghee– 7-8 almonds, slivered
Method
* Heat ghee in a kadhai and add broken wheat. Fry on medium heat, with regular stirring, till the wheat turns golden brown.* In a separate pan, boil water with jaggery till the jaggery melts.* Slowly, add the jaggery water to the roasted broken wheat. Add it from a side as there would be a lot of sputtering.* Add half the cardamom powder and grated coconut. Mix well. Reduce the heat to low and cook covered till the water is all soaked up and the dalia is well cooked. Takes about 20-25 minutes.* Remove in a serving dish and garnish with remaining grated coconut, cardamom powder and almonds.* Serve hot.
The dish is also offered during religious ceremonies to gods and goddesses. Also known as ‘lapsi’, the dish gets its name from a Sanskrit word, ‘Lapsikā‘.
Interestingly, there are many types of laapsi, too, whose main ingredient can change; examples include: aate ki laapsi (whole wheat flour), suji or rava ki laapsi (semolina), dalia laapsi (broken wheat), besan or chana dal laapsi (gram flour or Bengal gram lentil), moong dal laapsi, among others.
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