Vegan Kitchari

Kitchari is a traditional Indian dish that one of my favorite DC roommates introduced me to. It is often described as a dish that can help the digestive system press the reset button. It is a flavorful rice and bean dish, sometimes with a variety of vegetables too. This recipe is a very nice base recipe to start with. You can also always add vegetables or root vegetables. Kitchari is traditionally made with ghee butter, this recipe does not contain animal products.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup split yellow mung beans (moong dal)

• 1 1/2 cups basmati rice

• 6 cups filtered water

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric

• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• Freshly cracked pepper to taste

• A pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

• Fresh cilantro and lemon or lime juice to serve

• Optional: 2-3 cups of mixed vegetables (I like to just buy a bag of mixed frozen veg) Instructions:

• Rinse the mung beans and rice then add them to a large pot or Dutch oven.

• Add the bay leaf, cinnamon, stick, spices, and salt then pour the water in. Add any vegetables you chose. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook the mixture until all of the water has been absorbed (this took me about 25-30 minutes). Make sure to stir often so the bottom doesn’t burn.

• Once all of the water has been absorbed, turn off the heat. Serve up your kitchari with a heavy sprinkling of fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice.

This recipe makes about 5 servings and each serving is about 515 calories and 25 grams of fiber.

Enjoy!

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(Inspired by http://www.onegreenplanet.org)