Kitcheri is a complete meal that is simple to prepare and easy to digest, and can be varied using different seasonal vegetables. Kitcheri is the staple dish of the home-based panchakarma mono-diet.
This is how I make kitcheri
The night before, I soak some washed white basmati rice and yellow mung beans. Soaking isn’t essential, but it does speed up the cooking process. I allow 30 g of yellow mung beans and 30 g of basmati rice per person per meal.
I usually prepare three portions of kitcher in the morning and eat it for both lunch and dinner, and I also serve it to clients who have booked a lunch appointment with me. In the evening, I supplement it with oven-roasted vegetables if necessary.
Kitcher made with yellow mung beans is easier to digest than the version made with green mung beans. If you want to use green mung beans, you must soak them overnight. You can also use red lentils instead of mung beans.
To prepare, heat one teaspoon of ghee in a saucepan for every one to three people, add a piece of grated ginger about the size of half a thumb, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ⅓ tsp mustard seeds, ⅓ tsp fennel seeds and ⅕ tsp asafoetida, followed by the drained rice and mung beans. I heat the mixture, stirring gently, and add water so that there is about 1.5 times as much water: if there is 4 cm of rice and mung beans at the bottom of the pot, then the total water level should be 6 cm, or 2 cm above the level of the rice.
I leave the kitcher to simmer whilst I prepare the vegetables to add – carrots, pumpkin, peppers and other seasonal vegetables work well, for example. I add the vegetables and mix the spices in a cup: ⅔ to one teaspoon of Himalayan salt, ½ teaspoon of turmeric and ½ teaspoon of ground coriander, which I then add to the stew. The kitcher is ready in about 15 minutes.
When to eat kitcher
Kitcher is ideal for weight loss, cleansing the body and as a mono-diet. In this case, you can eat kitcher for all three meals of the day and prepare your daily portion in the morning – but do make a fresh portion every day.
Eat kitcher even when you’re ill or feeling down, or when you want to replenish your energy. Children also enjoy eating kitcher.
One portion of kitcher
- 30 g yellow mung beans
- 30 g white basmati rice
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ⅕ tsp asafoetida
- ⅓ tsp cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp fennel seeds
- ⅓ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp ground coriander