coconut kitchari

According to Ayurvedic medicine, Kitchari means mixture. It combines grains, spices, and vegetables that have medicinal cleansing affects on the body and is used in many detox cleanses. I found different recipes that use other beans like split yellow mung beans or lentils and a variety of different spices including mustard seeds, coriander, and asafoetida. This version reflects the usual contents of my kitchen, and my love for coconut milk.

coconut kitchari

• 1 cup mung beans (soaked, drained, and rinsed)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 medium white or yellow onion
• 1" turmeric
• 1" ginger
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cups water
• lots of fresh cilantro
• fresh lime juice
• brown basmati rice 

Soak the mung beans for 4-8 hours, I usually get them soaking the morning I am going to make them.

Chop the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic into small cubes.  In a high speed blender, whiz together the coconut milk, turmeric and ginger roots, cumin, and salt and pepper. Add this and the chopped veggies to a large soup pot. Drain and rinse the mung beans and add them to the pot along with two cups of water. Place a lid on the pot and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Depending on how long you soaked your mung beans for, they should be cooked in 20-30 minutes. Remove the lid to cook off any remaining liquid. Kitchari is similar to dahl in consistency and served over brown basmati rice with fresh cilantro. I like a squeeze of fresh lime.

This recipe is adapted from The Ayurvedic Institute. I've made it easy for you; just throw everything in a pot at the same time! We ate this for dinner the first night I made it and then had enough leftovers for lunch for the next three days! Now that's my kind of meal planning 😂