Food with Attitude
  • Home
  • Services
  • About
  • News
  • Contact
  • Insights and Inspiration
  • Home
  • Services
  • About
  • News
  • Contact
  • Insights and Inspiration
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

Insights and Inspiration.

3/25/2020 0 Comments

Lung Kitchari Recipe

Kitchari, or Kitchadi is a vegetarian stew made from cooked split mung beans and rice, usually basmati.  It is a wonderful, nourishing, easily digestible food for everyone.  Kitcharis are a core food in Ayurveda and it's where I first learned about them.  Yellow split mung beans can be found on-line, or in many health food stores.  Don't let the laundry list of ingredients deter you; the kitchari preparation is quite easy.  Read on at the end for why this kitchari recipe is particularly useful for the lungs and bronchial ailments: 

Lung Kitchari (serves 4)

½ cup white basmati rice
¼ cup split yellow mung beans
6 cups water
1 TB ghee
½ tsp ajwain seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/8 tsp hing (asafetida)
1 stick of kombu seaweed
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds or powder
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 TB ghee (divided)
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced into 1” pcs
1 cup string beans or zucchini, chopped
¾ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp turmeric
¾ Tsp rock salt
1 TB fresh ginger, minced
½ small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
½ tsp ground cumin
1 TB ground flaxseed

Procedure:
Wash rice and mung beans and rinse until the water is clear.  Wash the sweet potatoes and dice them. Warm one TB of ghee in a medium saucepan.   Add the ajwain seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.  Cook for a moment until the seeds sizzle.  Add the sweet potato plus the kombu stick, rice, mung beans, and water.  Cook for about 45 minutes.

Warm the other TB of ghee in a small skillet. Add the coriander, cardamom, peppercorns, and ginger.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.  Then stir in the rest of the spices, onion, and garlic cloves and cook another couple of minutes.  Put this spice mixture into the rice and mung.  Add the other vegetables and the flax meal and 1 to 1 1/2 cup of water.  Cook 20 minutes more. 

Adapted from the Ayurvedic Cookbook by Amadea Morningstar

*Amadea writes – this is an excellent kitchari for fighting winter ailments.  Ajwain and ginger work to decongest the lungs, while the onion and garlic warm and stimulate the immune system and circulation.  Sweet potato is rich in Vitamin A, which soothes the lung membranes and supports the immune system.  Flaxseed will enhance clearing of the lungs.

0 Comments

3/27/2017 0 Comments

Springtime Dill Kitchari

Picture

Spring is a time of new beginnings, growth, and expansion, and is also a good time to cleanse.  I'm highlighting mung beans in this post to showcase a detoxifying dish.  Mung beans are traditionally used in Ayurvedic cooking and are cherished for providing a great level of nourishment without overburdening the digestion.  They are a good source of fiber, B vitamins, and many minerals needed for various functions in the body.  They are astringent and alkaline in nature, and when combined with Spring vegetables and herbs they create cleansing recipes.

1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 cup whole mung beans
 A small bundle of fresh dill, chopped
1 cup broccolini, cut into small pieces
2 medium-sized garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 tsp. of turmeric
1 TB fennel seeds
1 TB ghee or coconut oil
Fresh squeezed lime juice from 1 lime
Himalayan salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Procedure:
Rinse mung beans and rice and add to a pot.  Cover with 3 & 1/2 cups of water and add 1/4 tsp. turmeric and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer until soupy and much of the water is absorbed (about 40 minutes).  

In a separate large skillet, heat ghee or coconut oil until glistening.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant (30-45 seconds).  Next add fennel seeds, chopped broccolini and chopped dill to the skillet with garlic and stir until the broccolini and spices are gently roasted.  Squeeze a lime over the vegetables.  

Combine the vegetables with the cooked mung beans and rice and stir until all is combined.  Season with salt and ground pepper and serve.


0 Comments

    Author

    Insights and Inspirations on nutrition, food, wellness, recipes, and more!  All posts by Jaime Frinak.

    Archives

    July 2022
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2019
    November 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    Categories

    All Cooking Oils Dessert Information Kitchari Lunch Miso Recipes Side Dish Spring Travel Cuisine Treats

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly