Kitchari Cleanse

Kitchari is a dish used frequently as food therapy in Ayurvedic medicine. Kitchari’s traditional base is “rice and beans” with a few select spices. There are infinite ways of adapting the spice and vegetable profile to achieve specific medicinal and taste/flavor results.

Kitchari is excellent for digestion and from a Chinese Medicine perspective, it is deeply nourishing for the Spleen and Stomach meridians. Mung beans are the preferred bean as they enter the Gallbladder and Liver meridians, thus their reputation for a cleansing/detoxing effect. Cilantro enters the Spleen and Stomach meridians and also has a detoxing effect. The recipe below is weighted toward warming and blood-moving spices and other foods that detox and nourish the body.

Kitchari is a perfect mono-food therapy for a 3-7 day cleanse. Your body will thank you!

Ingredients

1 C mung beans, soaked overnight in water and drained.

1 C basmati rice or quinoa, rinsed thoroughly.

6-8 cups filtered water

3-4 shiitake mushrooms, diced

1 sweet potato, peeled (if desired) and diced

1-3 carrots (depending on size), chopped into rounds

1-2 large leaves of chard or kale. Rainbow chard is great. De-vein the chard then chop up the veins like celery and chop up the green parts.

½ cup cilantro, chopped for garnish

1 thumb sized ginger, diced into small pieces

1-2 pieces of garlic, diced into small pieces

2 T ghee or coconut oil

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cardamon (extra good when you have dried pods and can add the cardamon seeds).

1 tsp fennel

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sea salt (+/or omit salt and just add Braggs when served)

Instructions

• Wash/Peel/Chop veggies as instructed. 

• Add ghee/oil to large pot on medium heat, add spices, ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant (~ 1-2 minutes). DO NOT BURN so adjust your heat accordingly. 

• Add mushrooms and 1 cup water. Bring to boil, turn down heat and let simmer 5-10 minutes. Add more water as necessary as it steams off.

• Add 4 cups water and mung beans (they can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes total to soften). Bring to boil, turn down to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.

• Add 2 more cups of water, rice, sweet potatoes, carrots and chard veins. Cook another 10 minutes. 

• Add greens. Cook another 10 minutes. Add more water as desired to get the texture you like (stew or soup).

• Top with ghee, Braggs, sea salt and/or fresh cilantro.