Kitchari - Cleansing - Nutritious - Healing
Mise En Place - second kitchari recipe in this blog
For those of you that frolic through my recipes you’ll notice that I shared a kitchari dish recipe in the past. This one is mindfully crafted and served at many Ayurvedic detox cleansing retreats because in Ayurveda, a sound digestion is so important to health and wellness. I’m sharing another similar, easy to follow Kitchari dish you can cook up in your home at the beginning of every season. I’m grateful to my Ayurvedic teachers for empowering me to learn and create the most healing and delicious dishes to restore and rejuvenate my life for better health - and than teach others to do the same.
Ayurveda Practitioners: devineayurveda.com and EverVeda.com
Kitchari is defined as a ‘mixture’ - a combination of grains, legumes spices and veggies. Spices are specific, although, the vegetables are by design. You choose your veggies to include in your pot. Below I shared a list of seasonal vegetables. The focus in this blog/recipe is about building a strong digestion, remove accumulated toxins, an anti-inflammatory gut healer, and restore balance in the body, mind and spirit. ‘Weak Digestion = Weak Immunity’ - in other words, the foods you choose to eat can create a healthy gut or quite the opposite - G-D Forbid! Every ingredient in kitchari is accounted for, and considered a medicinal dish.
Kitchari is easy to prepare and packed with health benefits - ingredients are par excellence. The dish offers a great source of protein - a.k.a. rice (basmati rice or quinoa) and mung beans. The spices are the ‘fire’ in you gut. When our fire/agni is normal thre is excellent digestion, proper elimination or waste, good circulation of nutrition, strong immunity, high energy, and good mind/body health. Digestive fire/agni also destroys harmful organisms and toxins (ama) in our body that causes bloated, gas, and stomach upset. Food is medicine, it’s a science that grows in nature - a gift for all of us to enjoy and live in health and deliciousness. We just need to learn how to eat!
My intention is to enlighten you with the power of food as medicine. Kitchari has the golden ingredients to cleanse and repair our body.
Digestive issues can go further than a stomach upset. Have you ever experienced skin rashes, migraines, fatigue, fibromyalgia, and/or weight fluctuations? I had skin eczema for years, and healing my skin was an inside job. The foods I ate, my lifestyle and rituals all played a part in my healing. I basically worked on emptying my rain barrel - following a destress protocol that I promote. whole heartily.
Ancient medicinal practices (over 5,000 years of Ayurvedic wisdom - the science of life and knowledge) promotes kitchari to heal our digestive health. Have you ever felt out of balance and needed a tune up to get back on track? We all do! Well, here is the recipe that you’ll enjoy over and over again! It’s a balancing, high energy nutritious, and delicious all encompassing meal.
When we take health and wellness into our daily rituals, it’s amazing how fast the body heals when nurtured properly.
Spring Cleanse Kitchari
Fall Cleanse Kitchari
Mung Dal is high in fiber, helps with bloating, constipation, low glycemic, stabilizes blood sugar levels, prevents sugar cravings, high in protein (muscle building), high in minerals - win win!
The most important part of a medicinal kitchari is the mung dal and rice - play around with the vegetables for color, taste and fiber.
Recipe
1 cup yellow split mung dal beans
1 cup basmati rice or quinoa
6 cups water
1 cup diced vegetables (list of vegetables below)
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil
6 fresh curry leaves (Indian grocery stores or order on line)
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 ground coriander
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil - optional
Garnish: 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, basil, dill, or parsley
4 lime wedges - optional
NOTE: the kitchari spice mix can be purchased at Banyan.com - the grated fresh ginger add on your own
Instructions
soak the mung dal (beans) for at least 30 minutes in water, drain wash, and drain again
wash the basmati rice or quinoa and drain
combine the mung dal and basmati or quinoa and water in a 4 qt pot and bring to boil over high heat, stir occasionally and remove any froth or foam from the surface
add the vegetables, (hard vegetables like carrots, beets, etc are added right away to give them ample time to cook through). Add ghee and all the spices and mix well and lower heat to simmer
after 20 minutes you can add the softer vegetables: zucchini, greens, etc…
simmer for another 10 minutes more. Kitchari will be slightly soupy in nature.
add olive oil and salt after kitchari is cooked (optional)
garnish: you can use either of these fresh chopped herbs: cilantro, parsley, lime wedges
Spring Vegetable List - your choice
beets
Carrots
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Broccoli
Dandelion Greens
Beet Greens
Swiss Chard
Kale
Spinach
Celery
Fennel
Asparagus
Cabbage
Cauliflower
ZucchiniFall Vegetable List - your choice
Zucchini
Squash - acorn, butternut, etc
Carrots
Asparagus
Broccoli
Broccoli Rabe
Bok Choy
Spinach
Chard
Cauliflower
String Beans
Daikin Radish
Parsnip
Kale
Fennel Bulp
Celery
Celery Root
Golden Beets
Taro Root
My choice of greens for my kitchari: kale, spinach and cilantro as my garnish
Nature Medicinals
Recipe - another version of kitchari
1/4 cup split mung beans
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 3 inch strip of kombu, cut into small pieces - optional
2 tbsp coconut oil (warmer months) or sesame oil (cooler months). or ghee
6-8 cups of water
3 cups veggies: kale, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes - your choice
1 tbsp of grated ginger root
1/4 cup of coconut flakes - optional
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds or powder
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
1 bay leak
1 cinnamon stick - optional - best in winter cold months
1 tsp Himalayan salt loaded with minerals
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1-2 wedges lemon or lime
rinse rice and mung beans
in a pot add oil, spices and cilantro and simmer stirring pot a few minutes
add rice, mung beans, and water and boil until soft - 10 minutes
add veggies and cover and cook for 3-5 minutes
add salt
garnish: serve with fresh cilantro, coconut flakes, and lemon wedges
Genia’s Spoon Me Tips
Beans in general are difficult to digest. Cooking them helps breakdown the complex carbohydrates which makes them lighter and easter to digest. As beans are cooking the beans will reduce phytic acid which interrupts absorbing nutrients. The foam that comes to the surface in your pot should be removed - skimmed from the top so your meal is better absorbed and doesn’t cause digestive issues known as gas, bloating, and inflammation. Ever wonder why you get uncomfortable after a bean or lentil dish?
When detoxing we need to eat fresh daily. So, I suggest you make a small pot of kitchari - this recipe serves 4 depending on your crowd. The Spring/Fall kitchari cleanse serves more than 4 servings unless you’re like me and eat a few bowls per serving - (my bowls are small). Please don’t eat until you’re stuffed - leave room in your tummy to digest. Take 3 breaths before you eat, and whisper a few words of gratitude - than dig in! Remember to chew well; “Drink your food, chew your drink”
Kitchari is mostly made of mung beans and basmati rice, although, if you’re watching your sugars use quinoa instead. White rice is easier to digest than brown rice. Spoil alert for some of you! You can use different type of legumes, although, for a cleanse choose mung beans - they’re easy beans to digest - you can find them in a health food store or Banyan.com. They are delicious!
Happy Cleanse, Happy Gut, Happy You!
Love, Genia