Kitchari - Ayurveda's Cleansing Food

​Kitchari is Ayurveda's essential cleansing food.  Light and easy to digest, it will leave you feeling nourished and energized.  This simple one pot meal is both affordable AND quick and easy to make.  So it's the perfect thing to throw together when you get home from work. It's recommended to do a 3 day kitchari fast when you feel you've been eating poorly and need to detox or if your digestion simply feels off.  This dish is served when someone is ill or recovering from illness.  In early spring as it begins to warm up and the blood starts to thin, you naturally crave lighter meals in preparation for warmer weather.  You don't need a storehouse of fat to keep you warm anymore - summer is almost here!  Kitchari is an ideal dish to satisfy your craving for warm food that won't weigh you down.

Ingredients:

1/2 c red lentils soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
1/2 c quinoa, white basmati or amaranth
1.5 cups chopped vegetables of choice
1 T chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp cumin - seeds or ground
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Heat 1/2 cup water over med/high heat
Add spices and ginger and mix well
add veggies and coat with spices
Mix in lentils and grain
Add 2 c water - enough to cover everything
Boil, cover, simmer @ 20min until grains are done.
garnish with cilantro and lime juice

Over time you can play with this recipe – adding more of each spice when you’re feeling heavyor bringing new spices in like fennel, cardamom, clove, garlic, onion. You can vary the vegetables to favor more roots when you’re feeling ungrounded, more greens when you’re feeling heavy. You can also use a little more water when you’re feeling dry or less water when you’re feeling bloated.