Kitchari - A Healing Bowl of Luv
Who’s hungry? I know you’re waiting for my famous carbonara recipe, but in the meantime.. here’s a healing hug! Kitchari is a traditional Ayurvedic food, made by cooking lentils and rice together until everything is melty and breaking apart. I make it when I’m feeling under the weather, or want some contrast to rich indulgences. Balance to the croissants and pasta, people!! Kitchari makes you happy because it is simple to digest, letting your body focus its energy on more important business.
You can add in whatever veggies, herbs and spices you wish. Ayurveda is all about the healing properties of food, so I’ve added some suggestions below. Traditionally you would eat this for 3-5 days straight, making more as needed. Sometimes I do this, but mostly I’ll add it in at lunches and dinners to show myself some love. When eating this as leftovers I usually add some avocado or fresh veggies on the side, like you see above!
Ingredients
1/2 cup of red lentils
1/2 cup of rice (basmati is traditional but use white, brown or jasmine as you wish)
1 tbsp or more of EVOO, canola oil, butter, or ghee
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup of onion chopped (optional)
1/2 cup or more of coconut milk (optional)
2 cups of chopped veggies
Fresh herbs and lemon or lime to serve
Step 1
Soak lentils and rice for .5-2 hours, then rinse. You can skip this step but it makes digestion more simple!
Step 2
Heat oil over medium heat, cooking onion and garlic until light gold, then add in around 1 - 3 tbs of whatever spices you want, taking care not to burn them (I always burn them :)
Last time I added rosemary for grounding, black paper for warming, fennel seeds for digestion, and mustard seeds for energy and because they’re delicious!
To fire up your metabolism add chilis, black pepper or ginger, turmeric for sunshine, cinnamon for calming, or if you run hot or are struggling with acne try cumin. Spices are seen as medicinal in Ayurveda, so I invite you to get curious and do a little research into your favs.
Step 3
After everything is smelling nice, maybe your seeds are popping, add in your drained rice and lentils, give a stir to coat, then add in chopped up veggies and enough water to cover everything by an inch or so
The goal is to make this mushy, or soupy, so it’s easy for your body to take in and extra nourishing
I added in carrots and turnip for grounding, and cauliflower for lightness, but choose any of your fav veggies. Sweet potato is particularly cozy and I wish I added mushrooms!
If you are a little spacey, like a certain someone I know (hello!), add in more root veggies for grounding. If you are feeling extra fiery, add in some cooling veggies like zucchini, cauliflower, and cabbage. and if you are feeling a little heavy, add in some leafy greens, bell peppers, and broccoli
Step 4
Stir occasionally, making sure there is enough water to hydrate your rice and lentils. Usually with rice we want the individual grains still intact, here we want to fully break down the rice and lentils, so they lose their shape a little. When in doubt, add more agua and keep cooking until you like the texture. You can add in some (full fat!!) coconut milk if you’d like for extra coziness
Step 5
Taste, adding more salt or pepper if you’d like. To serve, squeeze a generous wedge of lemon or lime all over, and maybe some cilantro, parsley, dill or mint! YUM!
Enjoy angels!!!!