Mumbai, Jan. 9: Jaya Bachchan will serve payesh to Oprah Winfrey when she visits her home later this month.

On January 19, the Bachchans will host a dinner for the American chat queen when she comes calling at Pratiksha to coo to Abhishek and Aishwarya’s baby girl.

The very Bengali rice pudding will have a touch of nolen gur — easily the flavour of the season since Laxmi Mittal ordered sweets made of date palm jaggery from Calcutta for his London friends.

January is the month of pithey-payesh and though the Bachchans are diet-conscious, payesh (or kheer) is a family favourite.

“The Bachchans serve payesh or kheer on auspicious occasions. Jaya has decided to serve the dish for dessert according to tradition since Oprah will be here to meet the newest arrival in the family,” said a close friend of the Bachchans.

The rest of the fare, though, will not come from the Bachchan matriarch’s kitchen or her trusted bawarchi, Nainital Maharaj.

“The Bachchans usually get their food catered from the Taj hotel and the China Garden restaurant (in Mumbai) for their house parties. But sometimes, Jaya cooks a special dish and her payesh is a big hit,” the friend said.

Bollywood has of late been giving Hollywood a taste of India by hosting dinners for visiting American stars. Anil Kapoor laid out one for Tom Cruise at a Mumbai hotel and SRK hosted a party for Lady Gaga where all the leading lights of Bollywood turned up.

The Bachchans’ dinner with Oprah, though, will be an exclusive affair.

Oprah will be in India to shoot an episode for her new show, Next Chapter, with celebrity spiritual guru Deepak Chopra. She will stop by in Mumbai on her way to the Jaipur Literature Festival, which she plans to attend from January 20 to 22. Chopra is expected to accompany her to Pratiksha for the private dinner.

Aishwarya and Oprah have been friends since the former Miss World featured on her iconic television show in April 2005. Later, in 2009, Ash introduced her husband to America through The Oprah Winfrey Show.

By the time Oprah drops in, Aishwarya’s little girl with her mother’s grey eyes will hopefully have a name. The official naming ceremony is scheduled at Pratiksha on Makar Sankranti, January 13.