Kitchari - healing and cleansing Ayurvedic dish
 
 
Author:
Ingredients
For the Kitchari:
  • 200 g yellow Mung Dal (mung dal= small split yellow lentils)
  • 100 g Basmati Rice (use brown if prefered)
  • 2 teaspoons of Garam Masala
  • 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
  • 1 thumb-sized piece of turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander, ground cumin, whole fennel seeds, sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon of ground turmeric, whole black mustard seeds, whole cumin seeds
  • 1.2 liters of water, more as needed
  • 2 tablesponns of coconut flakes
  • 125 g of grated carrots
  • 125 g of grated zucchini
  • 2 tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil for a vegan option
optional:
  • 250 g baby spinach
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • coconut yoghurt
  • Fresh coriander
Instructions
  1. It is best to soak the mung dal and (brown) basmati rice for at least one hour. Then drain off the water and rinse off both well again.
  2. Put all the spices in a small bowl. Finely chop the ginger and turmeric. Cut the carrots and zucchini in small pieces or grate them.
  3. Heat the ghee or coconut oil in a saucepan. Add the spices, fresh ginger and turmeric and coconut flakes and sauté for about a minute over medium heat.
  4. Now add the lentils and rice and deglaze with the water. Boil the water, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  5. After 20 minutes, add the vegetables and possibly pour a little more water into the pot. Simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring constantly and adding water if necessary.
  6. In the meantime, prepare the spinach. Roast 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds in a pan and cover with a lid, as the mustard seed will pop up. Put some coconut oil or ghee in the pan and add the spinach. Pan the spinach over medium heat in the pan until it has collapsed. Season with sea salt and pepper and serve to Kitchari.
  7. Season with sea salt and pepper (or more spices) and garnish with coconut yoghurt and coriander.
Notes
Remarks:
Kitchari means one thing in particular: many spices. Please do not run into the nearest supermarket immediately and buy all the spices I listed above. It is not the end of the world if you use only half of the spices. The most important are turmeric, fennel seeds, ground cumin and coriander.
Recipe by Heavenlynn Healthy at https://www.heavenlynnhealthy.com/kitchari-healing-cleansing-ayurvedic-dish-8/