Kitchari: Basic, Savory and Sweet
This recipe makes enough for 5 meals. It feeds me for a day plus one more breakfast. I like to make this basic recipe, cool it and store it in the fridge. From that, I take what I need for a meal and add different spices and vegetables to it.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups basmati rice (brown or white) or try millet
- 3/4 cups mung beans
- 8 cups water (more for millet)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 pinch asafoetida (a spice also called hing- available at Indian and Chinese grocers)
Directions:
- Soak rice and beans separately overnight in plenty of water.
- The next day rinse the rice and beans and put into a heavy bottomed pot.
- Add water, turmeric and asafoetida.
- Cook over medium heat (or in a rice cooker) until the water is mostly absorbed (about 45 minutes)
Variations:
Breakfast bowl
In a pot, heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil with 2 cracked cardamom pods, ¼ cup unsweetened coconut and a pinch of cumin seeds.
Cook over medium heat until fragrant.
Add 1 ½ cups cooked kitchari mixture, a little water (more of you like it soup-y), a dash of cinnamon and some ground cloves. Season with salt.
Cover and heat gently for a few minutes, until water is absorbed.
Savory Kitchari
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ tsp. Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp. Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp. Ground Coriander
- 1 tsp. Ground Fennel
- 1 inch ginger, grated or minced
- Optional: onion, garlic, vegetables such as zucchini, sweet potato, carrot, squash, green vegetables of your choice.
Directions:
- Sauté seeds until the pop in a bit of coconut or olive oil. Add onions, ginger, garlic, or hard vegetables such as carrots or squash to the spices and cook for a few minutes, until they begin to soften.
- Then add 1 1/2 –2 cups of cooked kitchari mixture, a little water and any soft vegetables like greens, zucchini, or broccoli. Put a lid on it and cook gently until the water is absorbed and the vegetables are cooked. Season with salt.
About the Author
Now is the Time for an Ayurvedic Spring Cleanse
Spring has been shown to be the best time for a cleanse, which may just be the best action you can take for your health today. The ancient science of Ayurveda provides a safe, evidence-based, and comprehensive way to do it.
Cleansing, or detoxing the body, has been a key practice throughout the 5,000 years of Ayurveda’s history as a system of natural healing. Now, research explains the impressive results of the Ayurvedic cleanse.
Dr. John Douillard is a leading Ayurvedic practitioner who has been incorporating Ayurvedic detox programs in his practice for decades. He explains that poor digestion is at the core of the need for detoxification.
“I think most people don’t realize that our ability to digest well is directly linked to our ability to detoxify well,” Doulliard said. “In one survey, [it was] reported that 74 percent of the American population have a digestive imbalance of some kind, suggesting that not only are we not getting the nutrition that we need, but we’re also not getting the waste out as efficiently as we could — and there are waste, toxins, and pollutants everywhere. So, even if you eat really clean, which is obviously a really important thing, you’re still being exposed to toxicity, which means that you have to be able to digest well to detoxify that. That’s why Ayurveda is all about making sure with every change of the season, we do our best to reset — a deep rejuvenation to repair the digestion and detox organs and pathways. They’re actually creating a whole new population of bugs in your gut that are based on this year’s model, which gives you the stability and immunity for the entire year.”
Given these compelling reasons, what are the best indicators to notice if it’s time for you to do a cleanse?
“How is your digestion? Do you have a food intolerance? When you look at your tongue in the morning, if it’s white or coated, Ayurveda calls it ‘ama’ or undigested food. When you’re toxic, you’re tired, and not getting the energy from the lymph delivery of fat — your immune system is compromised and you can’t take the trash out, so it starts coming out through your skin. This gives you brain fog, headaches, rashes, indigestion; all these things begin to happen,” Douillard said.
